GameFAQs CBVI: Arx Veneficus Oraculum
by Ash and Zen
Summary: We are no longer working on this ffp. We're sorry. We are working on a new one however, and we hope that you will read it. We will try to finish that one, but we make no promises. We will direct you to it when we post it.
1. Arx Veneficus Oraculum

**Arx Veneficus Oraculum**

From a world long destroyed, existed a prophecy that foretold of a significant event in the history of the multiverse. A significant event that would forever change the worlds which everyone inhabited. With the destruction of the world in which it existed, the prophecy was forgotten for a long time. It wasn't until someone stumbled upon it by complete accident that it was remember for the first time in over a millennium. This is that prophecy.

In the common year of 2007

A tournament will be hosted

On the world of Pianeta

One Hundred Twenty Eight

The fighters will number

Fighting in groups of four

At the end only one will stand

Above all the rest of the fighters

And they shall change the multiverse forever

It wasn't this part of the prophecy that worried the two men sitting behind their desks in an old an ancient castle. It was the part of the prophecy that came next that caused them to decide to host the tournament themselves. It was that part of the prophecy that nobody but them knew. What secrets did the rest of the prophecy tell? How would the champion change the multiverse in such a monumental way? Only the two men knew. And they weren't talking. At least not about the rest of the prophecy. They were far too busy gathering participants for the tournament itself.

Lucretia Merces, a brilliant strategist from Sol Falena had been called in to gather the participants for the tournament. She was a woman that the two men could trust to complete the job. Lucretia was certain about working for these two men, who had called themselves "Blood" and "Flame". Though she knew their true identities, because she always knew everything, she would refer to them as what they wished out of respect. Blood was the crimson-haired man sitting on the left. He wore full body armor that suggested that he was a warrior, or at least that he had been a warrior at one point. A wooden mask covered his face almost entirely, concealing his true identity. Flame was the crimson-haired man sitting on the right. He looked to be a lot more casual than Blood was. Instead of full body armor, he wore a simple white jacket, with black pants. He too had a wooden mask covering the majority of his face. Lucretias face was the only one out in plain sight in the room, and on it was a clear sense of concern. It wasn't the task that stood before her that caused such concern, instead it was something much deeper in her mind.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"Of course we are" Blood told her. It was something that he had been considering for a long time. Blood was very confident in his decision to go through with everything. He had always had an air of confidence about him, and it was no different with the tournament.

"And you?" Lucretia motioned to Flame.

"Yeah, I'm sure" Flame told her, without the same confidence that his partner had. It was clear that he had some inkling of doubt inside fo him. But the inkling of doubt wasn't enough to change his mind.

"You know, changing the future... changing a prophecy" Lucretia told them, as if she had doubts of her own about what they were doing. And how could she not? Nothing was certain about anything in the multiverse. She of all people knew that.

"Prophecies are meant to be broken" Flame told her. "I of all people know tha. So long as we live our lives in accordance with some prophecy written long ago, nothing will change. I for one will not stand by idly and allow things to happen without doing something about it".

That was all Lucretia really needed to hear. She wanted to make sure that her employers were confident in what they were doing. Though she could betray them at any time if she wished, as long as their goals stayed the same she would not. She had to be sure that they would go through with everything.

"Of course, by hosting this tournament you may very well be fulfilling the prophecies yourself."

Blood looked at the strategist for a moment, only for a moment, and immediately knew his answer. He knew that if one day someone asked him that very question, how he would respond. "History has a way of setting it's own course" he began. "If we do not hold this tournament, someone else will. If in the end, everything is going to be the same, then we must do at least what we can to make a change. Better that we take a little control of the situation, than to sit by idly and watch events unfold. I personally don't want to be remembered as the man who gave up. I want to stand and face time head on. We will fight with everything we have to change the course of history- and if we must, we will die doing it".

By this point, Lucretia had covered all of the bases. Time was a tricky thing, even for a genius like her. She would've been a fool not to have questions for the two men that sat before her. But now she was ready to set forth with their plan. There was nothing that could have made her more ready.

"Very well" she told them. "What would you have me do?"

Blood picked a list up off of his desk, and handed it to Lucretia. "This is a list of all of the participants. We would like you to bring them back to the castle."

Lucretia quickly glanced over the list, and none of the names were any that she had recognized. She wasn't surprised at all by this, nor was she surprised at most of the names on the list. "Some of them might refuse to come."

"We trust you will be able to get them all. You are renowned for your brilliant mind Lady Merces. We have the utmost confidence in you." Flame told her.

"Very well" Lucretia said, smiling. "And please don't call me Lady Merces. I never did like all the formalities".

The strategist turned to leave the office. She glanced at the list one last time. Some of them would be a welcome challenge for her. But like Blood and Flame, she had confidence in herself. She knew what she was doing- and knew for certain that she would succeed.

By Cloud and Squall


	2. The Bracket

**Division One**

Knuckles - Sonic's spiky rival from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Rikku - The perky thief from Final Fantasy X and X-2.

Vaan - The hero of Final Fantasy XII.

Yoshi - Mario's ride and the star of his own games from the Super Mario series.

---

Arthas Menethil - Once a Paladin, now a Death Knight, from the WarCraft series.

Diablo - The titular character and main enemy of the Diablo series.

KOS-MOS - Not just a pretty face, but a weapon from the Xenosaga series.

Mega Man - The original blue bomber from the Mega Man series and its countless spinoffs.

---

Axel - One of the members of Organization XIII from Kingdom Hearts II.

Frog- Once a knight, now an amphibian, from Chrono Trigger.

Samus - The star of the Metroid series.

Sarah Kerrigan - Once Terran, now infested, from StarCraft.

---

Agent 47 - The Hitman himself from the series of the same name.

Kratos Aurion - From Tales of Symphonia, one of the most popular characters in the series.

Midna - Link's assistant from Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Scorpion - From Mortal Kombat, the demonic ninja back from the dead.

---

**Division Two**

Kefka - The Emperor's magician and lead villain from Final Fantasy VI.

Marcus Fenix - Ex-prisoner and lead soldier from Gears of War.

Tom Nook - Runs the shop in Animal Crossing.

Zelos Wilder - The Chosen One from Tales of Symphonia.

---

Cloud Strife - The hero and most well-known character from Final Fantasy VII.

Jill Valentine - The heroine of Resident Evil 1 and 3.

Midgar Zolom - By fan demand, the giant snake from Final Fantasy VII.

Revolver Ocelot - One of Snake's enemies from the Metal Gear series.

---

Auron - One of Yuna's protectors from Final Fantasy X.

Chris Redfield - A hero from Resident Evil and Code: Veronica.

Pyramid Head - One of the many creatures from Silent Hill 2.

Shadow the Hedgehog - Sonic's rival and star of his own game.

---

Bowser - King of the Koopas and Mario's ever-present rival.

Mewtwo - One of the many Pokemon from the Pokemon series.

Ryu - The lead fighter from the Street Fighter series.

Toad - One of Mario's many companions from the Super Mario series.

---

**Division Three**

CATS - All your base are belong to him, from Zero Wing.

Meta-Knight - Kirby's nemesis from his series of games.

Princess Peach - Mario's very own damsel in distress.

Sephiroth - The main villain from Final Fantasy VII.

---

Banjo - One of the titular characters from Banjo-Kazooie.

Captain Falcon - The star racer from the F-Zero series.

Fox McCloud - The lead character from Star Fox.

Wario - Mario's opposite and nemesis, and star of his own series to boot.

---

Big Boss - The founder of FOXHOUND, from the Metal Gear series.

Mario - Nintendo's main man himself.

Pac-Man - The original dot-eater and the first major video game star.

Wander - The colossus-fighting hero from Shadow of the Colossus.

---

Bomberman - From his own series of games.

Crash Bandicoot - The marsupial who has starred in his own series.

Phoenix Wright - The lead lawyer from the Phoenix Wright series.

Magus - The mysterious wizard from Chrono Trigger.

---

**Division Four**

Agent J - One of the lead agents from Elite Beat Agents.

Bidoof - One of the many Pokemon from the Pokemon series.

Link - The star of the Legend of Zelda series.

Miles Edgeworth - The main rival from the Phoenix Wright series.

---

Miles 'Tails' Prower - Sonic's companion and friend from the Sonic series.

The Boss - Leader of Cobra Unit in Metal Gear Solid 3.

Vincent Valentine - Vampire and star of his own spinoff from Final Fantasy VII.

Zelda - The titular character and princess from the Legend of Zelda.

---

Crono - The silent lead character from Chrono Trigger.

Sam Fisher - The stealthy lead character from Splinter Cell.

Simon Belmont - One of the Belmont family's vampire hunters from Castlevania.

Raiden - Snake's partner from Metal Gear Solid 2.

---

HK-47 - A fan favorite android from Star Wars: KOTOR.

Lloyd Irving - The lead character from Tales of Symphonia.

Jak - One of the titular characters from Jak and Daxter.

Zero - X's friend and rival from the Mega Man X series.

---

**Division Five**

Luigi - Mario's brother and companion in the Super Mario series.

Mudkip - One of the many Pokemon from the Pokemon series.

Pit - The lead character from Kid Icarus.

Tingle - One of Link's many companions from the Legend of Zelda series.

---

Ganondorf - The main villain from the Legend of Zelda series.

Ratchet - Mechanic and hero from the Ratchet & Clank series.

Thrall - Legendary leader of the Horde from the Warcraft series.

Vergil - Dante's brother and rival from the Devil May Cry series.

---

Master Chief - The hero of the Halo series.

PaRappa - The two-dimensional Rapper from his own series of games.

Tommy Vercetti - The star of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Yuna - The heroine of Final Fantasy X and X-2.

---

Alucard - Son and nemesis of Dracula from the Castlevania series.

Liquid Snake - One of Solid Snake's many enemies from the Metal Gear series.

Ness - The lead character from Earthbound.

Zidane - The lead character from Final Fantasy IX.

---

**Division Six**

Amaterasu - The sun goddess personified in Okami.

Dante - The lead character from the Devil May Cry series.

Little Mac - The little boxer that could from Punch-Out!!

Matt - Your trainer and tough-to-beat boxer from Wii Sports.

---

Ada Wong - A mysterious yet alluring character from the Resident Evil series.

Balthier Bunansa - The sky pirate from Final Fantasy XII.

Frank West - He's covered wars, you know, as well as a zombie plague in Dead Rising.

Jade Curtiss - From Tales of the Abyss.

---

Isaac - The silent lead character from Golden Sun.

Pikachu - One of the many Pokemon from the Pokemon series.

Serge - Like Crono before him, the silent lead character from Chrono Cross.

Tidus - Blitzball player and the star of Final Fantasy X.

---

Leon Kennedy - Hero of Resident Evil 4.

Ridley - One of Samus's toughest enemies from the Metroid series.

Spyro - Titular character from the Spyro series.

Vivi Ornitier - Black mage from Final Fantasy IX.

---

**Division Seven**

Kirby - The always-hungry pink puff from the series of the same name.

L-Shaped Block - Why did a Tetris piece make it in? Why not?

Laharl - The demon prince of the Disgaea series.

Nathan Hale - The lead soldier from Resistance: Fall of Man.

---

Donkey Kong - Mario's first nemesis and star in his own right today.

Kratos - The lead character from the God of War series.

Marth - Star of two Fire Emblem games, but best known for his Smash Bros. appearances.

Prince of All Cosmos - The ball-rolling prince from Katamari Damacy.

---

Nightmare - Siegfried's alter-ego and fighter from the Soul Calibur series.

Rayman - He of the disconnected floating body parts from his own series of games.

Solid Snake - The lead character of the Metal Gear series.

Vyse - Lead character from Skies of Arcadia.

---

Haseo - One of the inhabitants of The World in .hack//G.U.

Riku - Sora's friend and rival from Kingdom Hearts.

Roxas - A mysterious character from Kingdom Hearts II.

Ryu Hayabusa - The ninja from Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive.

---

**Division Eight**

Aeris Gainsborough - One of the lead characters and plot points of Final Fantasy VII.

Akuma - The lead antagonist of the Street Fighter series.

Geno - By fan demand, from Super Mario RPG.

Squall Leonhart - The lead character of Final Fantasy VIII.

---

Albert Wesker - A shady character from the Resident Evil series.

Daxter - Jak's little friend from the Jak and Daxter series.

Lara Croft - The Tomb Raider herself.

Sora - Star of the Kingdom Hearts series.

---

Duke Nukem - Star of Duke Nukem Forever, which has been in production for 11 years.

Ike - The lead of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

Gordon Freeman - The silent lead character of Half-Life.

Guybrush Threepwood - Wants to be a pirate, from the Monkey Island series.

---

Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega's mascot and star of his own series of games and spinoffs.

Sub-Zero - The frosty ninja from Mortal Kombat.

Prince of Persia - The titular character from the Prince of Persia series.

Viewtiful Joe - The lead character from his own series.

Bracket and descriptions by CJayC and Sailor Bacon, creator of GameFAQs and his second-in-command.


	3. Pikachu, Mudkip, Bidoof, Mewtwo, Agent J

**Prefic: What do you like to Play?**

"Oh? Two worlds in one today?" Lucretia spoke to herself, startled, as she gave her first read-through of her mission objective. Because she had so many assignments that day, and Flame and Blood were both far too busy with preparation to inform her of her missions in person, she was simply handed a piece of paper. She did not take major offense to this, but it did irk her.

"Mew...two? And Agent J? Well, at least it will add character..." With that, she sprinkled a pinch Travel Dust over her head, sneezed, and though of the world 'Kanto,' and disappeared.

Lucretia rematerialized in a world not so different from her own; grassy plains and peaceful ponds and rivers were abundant in this "Kanto." She looked at a sign post that read "Pallet Town." She cursed to herself, she had forgotten that she needed to be specific with the Dust, and forgot to add "Viridian City Gym" to her mental command. She was about to use it to teleport herself over to the proper location, however she caught sight of a sign that read "Viridian City - North - 2 miles." Lucretia glanced back at the pouch of Dust, and then to the sign, and, deciding not to waste perfectly good dust for a two mile trip and started up the trail, on the road to Viridian city.

Thinking of the instructions on the paper she had been handed that morning, Lucretia became lost in thought. She was so absorbed that she almost did not hear the cries of the small yellow rodent at her feet.

"Pika! Pika!" the lemon-colored mouse squealed up at her in obvious distress. It began tugging on her dress, and pointing into the forest on her immediate left.

"Scram! I'm busy!" Lucretia scowled at the mouse, who was tugging even harder. She gave it a bit of a shove, trying not to hurt it. The Pikachu fell back, and began to cry.

"Oh, now you're crying! You made me do it!" she huffed. The Pikachu, not crying harder, started emitting sparks from its body, and, without warning, let out a thundershock which sent Lucretia flying. She landed flat on her backside, and, now furious, jumped back to her feet and ran to the Pikachu, with not-so-friendly intentions.

"I have had it! Come here you little..." her threats were not missed by the mouse, who sprung to life and ran into the woods, Lucretia hot on his brown-tipped tail. The chase only lasted a few seconds, as the Pikachu had led Lucretia to what it had been upset about before.

On the side of a small pond a tiny, blue frog-type creature with puffy orange cheeks and fins was being chased by a boy with a cap and shorts. "MUDKIPS! I LOOOOVE MUDKIPS!" the boy yelled as he stumbled along in pursuit of the frog. The yellow mouse began tugging on Lucretia's dress again and pointing to the Mudkip.

"...Oh, I see. Is that all?" Lucretia said, now calm.She picked up a rock, and, with expert accuracy, threw it at the boy's head. It made contact and he fell down, unconscious. The Mudkip ran over to Lucretia and Pikachu.

"Mud! Kip!"smiled the blue frog. Pikachu and itself began dancing around in happiness.

"Alright, now can you leave me alone?" Lucretia said with a false intensity, trying not to smile at how cute the two Pokemon were when dancing.

"Pika! Piii!" smiled the Pikachu. It ran off into the woods with the Mudkip.

"Ugh, I should have used that Dust..."

After she had walked about two miles, Lucretia began to tire, chasing the Pikachu and being shocked by it had taken more out of her than she though. She sat on a brown, lumpy log to regain her composure, but was surprised to find it was not a log at all.

"BEEDOOF!" yelled the beaver Pokemon that had just been sat down upon. It jolted forward and right into a tree, knocking itself unconscious.

"What the hell?!" Lucretia screamed. She had just fallen on her butt after the Bidoof had jolted out from underneath her. She looked at its now unconscious body, and sighed. It wasn't a good day for her. She went over to the beaver and picked it up, she decided she would help it. She may have been a bit... stern at times, but she wasn't heartless.

After a bit of walking, she had finally arrived outside of the city. She was thankful, he trip had not been pleasant. It could be described as bizarre. At one point she had observed a large, bald black man swatting at purple snakes, and yelling "I've had it with these mother ing Ekans on this mother ing plain!"

At another point in her journey she had come across two trainers, one in red with a cap that had a less than sign on it, and one in blue with spiky hair. They were both fighting each other with red and gold fish, who looked clueless to their own existence. She recalled their battle:

"Magikarp, use a splash attack!" yelled the trainer in red. The fish started to flop around a bit more than it already had been doing.

"You call that a splash? Show him what a real splash attack looks like, Magikarp!" the trainer in blue yelled back. His fish began to flop a bit more violently as well.

"Magikarp, dodge away from that splash!"ordered Red. The Magikarp didn't stop flopping, and made no attempt to dodge from the nonexistent attack, "Good Magikarp, now counterattack with your own splash!"

"Magikarp, use hyper beam!" commanded Blue. The Magikarp stopped flopping and managed to turn around to face his master and give an even more clueless expression than before. There was a moment of silence, and then "What the do you mean you don't know hyper beam? Just use splash attack!"

'This world is full of fools...' Lucretia thought to herself as she entered the town. She went pass a large building with a sign that said MART on the side, and then to a building with a red roof with a sign that read "Pokemon Center."

'I'll just ditch this little guy here,' she though. She left the Bidoof on the doorstep, and it gave a little 'doof...' and looked up at her, then fainted again. Lucretia thumped on the door and ran down the street, making a sharp turn towards the gym.

The gym was large and majestic, the roof was painted gold and there were shining gates guarded by two hulking men who were shirtless and ripped. They both had large shields and spears, and helmets that covered everything but their eyes and their mouths. Lucretia put on her sexy face (yes, she has a sexy face, and she's willing to use it), and strode up to the guards, who crossed their spears in front of the gate.

"Present your Pokemon for our approval, or you shall no entrance shall be permitted." spoke the guard on the left.

"Pokemon? I don't have any Pokemon! Just let me in!" Lucretia cried, then, remembering her plan, she put on a puppy dog face and added a "please?"

"I'm sorry," said the guard, unphased, "But we cannot bend the rules."

Lucretia stamped her foot on the ground and yelled "This is madness!"

"...Madness?" said the guard. He looked to the other guard for approval, receiving a nod, he turned back to Lucretia with a grin. "THIS IS VIRIDIAN CITY!"

There was a bit of a pause, and Lucretia's eye twitched a bit. She wasn't sure what to say. This world was truly a strange one. Suddenly, three small figures jumped in front of Lucretia. She and the guards looked down to find the Pikachu and the Mudkip she had helped earlier, and the Bidoof she had just brought to the center.

"Pi Pikachu!" squealed the mouse, with his "game face" on. He let a few sparks fly for his red cheeks.

"...Are these your Pokemon?" asked the guard, confused.

"Uhhh... Yeah! Now let me in!" Lucretia spoke, unsure of herself.

The two guards looked at each other, smiled, and they both hit their spears on the ground. The sparkling golden gate opened the path to the gym.

"You may enter!" he spoke. "We are not responsible for any injuries you may sustain during battle."

'Finally...' Lucretia thought to herself as she walked up the pearly white steps with her three new Pokemon. She shoved open the door to find herself in a rectangular room. There was a ring for battling in the center and an elevated platform for what she assumed was where the gym leader stood.

"So you want to be a Pokemon master? Muhahahaha!" came the voice of the person on the platform, he was cloaked in shadow and had an inhumanly deep voice. Lucretia was unphased, but her three Pokemon seemed intimidated.

"Can I see Mewtwo?" she asked calmly.

"W-What?! How did you..." stuttered the man in shadows, caught off guard, "No matter! You want to see my precious machine, then here you have it!" He pounded his fist on a button to his right, and the wall underneath his platform opened up to reveal some kind of creature in a cybernetic armor.

The creature lifted its head and was suddenly surrounded in a blue glow. Pikachu, Mudkip and Bidoof began to float off the ground, and were then thrust into the wall by and invisible force. Lucretia stepped back, ready to put her plan into action.

"Ah, good, Mewtwo, your power levels have finally reached over nine thousand!" said the man on the platform as he scrolled through some readouts on a computer screen, "You can do away with our guest, she knows far too much." Lucretia could tell he was smiling from a glint in the shadow.

Mewtwo stepped forward, and raised his hand. He had three spheres on his hand instead of fingers. Lucretia began floating as her Pokemon had, and she felt a pressure pushing in on her. Mewtwo was going to crush her.

"W... Wait! What do you work for the man for?" she managed to squeak out. She felt the grip get tighter.

"It is no use!" laughed Giovanni, "He's my puppet! You cannot win him over!"

"Mew... Mewtwo... I can give you a real challenge! A tournament! 128 fighters, you can prove your worth! Train youself! Become stronger, become champion of the universe! All you have to do is come with me!" with effort, she stretched her hand out in a friendly manner.

Her words seemed to reach Mewtwo this time, and his grip seemed to lessen. The man could somehow tell, most likely because of the readouts on the screen, and began yelling "Mewtwo! Don't listen to this ! You work for me! You will fight for me! I will make you stronger! There is no tournament, she's tricking you!"

"ENOUGH!" echoed Mewtwo's booming voice, not in their ears, but in their minds. "I have read her mind, what she says is true. She does not, however, believe that I can win. I will prove her wrong. And you!" he turned to the gym leader, dropping Lucretia on the floor, "I have had to tolerate your orders for far too long! You have provided me with no challenge, and this armor does nothing but contain my power!" The armor suddenly shattered, and Mewtwo's true form was revealed, "I bid you farewell, Giovanni..."

"No! This can't be happening!" Giovanni cursed, as Mewtwo floated over to Lucretia.

"Shall we?" Mewtwo asked mentally, holding out his hand, or paw, or whatever it was. Lucretia took it in hers, and smiled, "Of course, I'm glad you made the right choice."

She pulled out her bag of Travel Dust and sprinkled some on Mewtwo and then on herself. She closed her eyes and envisioned their next destination, and was disappearing when she was tackled by the Bidoof, the Mudkip and the Pikachu.

Lucretia, Mewtwo and the three Pokemon reappeared in the middle of a large city, in a deserted park.

"What the?! Why the hell did you guys tackle me?! Great, now I'm stuck with you! Now we have three too many entrant! Ugh!"

She pulled out a list from her pocket, it had another few destinations for the day. "You're lucky I like you guys," she said as she flipped through her missions, "I'm crossing Seifer, Yoshimitsu, and Diddy Kong, who was already eliminated, off my list of targets, and you know why? So I can bring you back with me. Isn't that nice?"

The Pokemon all cheered. Mewtwo scoffed. "These three taking the place or more worthy opponents? Please..."

"There's 124 more, that you can fight," said Lucretia, brushing him off. "Now, I need you to strangle me a bit. And you three, look scary."

"Pi?" asked Pikachu, curious.

"I agree with the rodent," said Mewtwo mentally, "Why? ...Oh, I see."

"Get outta my head!" Lucretia yelled, offended.

"It speeds things up," said Mewtwo, lifting her in the air, "You have a fanclub?"

"Just shut up and look threatening! You too, you three."

Mewtwo began whipping up a storm as Pikachu sent some thunderbolts into the air. Lucretia began "struggling" as a crowd gathered in the now pouring rain to scream at the "monster" that had "taken an innocent woman hostage." After a sufficient amount of chaos had been raised, Lucretia decided it was the perfect time to summon her target.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Commander Kahn sat at his spotless desk, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, and his hands folded underneath his chin. He watched the large monitors in front of him for any sign of disturbance.

Suddenly, a large picture of Lucretia popped up on screen, and her cry for help echoed throughout the command center. Commander Kahn slammed on the desk, stood up and yelled

"Agents are...

GO!"

There was three flashes of black behind him, and the sound of a large metal door opening and a helicopter taking off could be heard on the far corners of the headquarters.

"I said HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Lucretia cried for the umpteenth time. She was getting wet from the rain and had been singed by lightning twice already.

All of a sudden the crowd began to applaud, and she knew they had arrive. A helicopter flew overhead, and three men in black suits jumped from it and parachuted to the ground.

"Agent J here!" said the man with the large red pompadour. Behind him was a black man wearing a fedora and a disgruntled looking man with a red afro. "Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" he spoke again.

"Now!" Lucretia yelled. Mewtwo closed his eyes, and yelled "Za Warudo!"

A darkness emanated from where he was standing. As it passed over the cheering crowd, they seemed to turn negative, as if somebody had pasted a picture of them in MSPaint and reversed their colors. The Agents, ready to groove, looked startled as the rain stopped in midair around them. Time seemed to stop for everyone but Lucretia, Mewtwo and the three dancers.

"Part two," she commanded Mewtwo, who then began choking Agent J's backup dancers with an invisible choke.

"P-Put them down!" he yelled at Mewtwo. "What the hell are you guys?!"

"We're representatives, and we're here to take you to our little tournament. You can come quietly or we can take you by force. I suggest you don't choose force, or my friend and I would have to take drastic measures."

The Agents squealed in pain as Mewtwo gripped harder. Agent J tensed, and shouted at Lucretia "Let them go! I'll come with you! Just don't hurt them..."

Lucretia gave Mewtwo a nod, and the Agents fell to the ground coughing. J walked to Lucretia calmly. "So, how does this work? You got some kind of jet or something?"

"Even better," she smiled as she pulled out the bag of Travel Dust, "Hold on to that crazy hairstyle of yours." She threw some on her Pokemon, then onto Mewtwo, and last on to Jay and herself. She though of home, and disappeared. The crowd was then able to move again, and looked at the remaining Agents in confusion and disbelief.

By ZenOfThunder


	4. Diablo, Kefka, Sephiroth

**See You in Hell**

Deep within the bowels of Hell, the most terrifying, horrible demons imaginable thrive. These beings are the very worst of their kind; they held tremendous physical and magical power, and were highly treacherous and deceitful. They had 100 motives for everything they did; 99, at least, were malevolent. And yet, as a blonde woman in unusual clothing casually made her way through the portion of Hell they called home, none of them attacked her or otherwise led her astray. The reason for this was simple: the Lord of Terror had told them to let her come, and no one, not even the most powerful demon in Hell, dared disobey the Lord of Terror.

The woman walked on, traveling further and further into the deepest reaches of Hell. She seemed undisturbed by the images around her. The tortured souls; the demons reveling in their punishment; the horrible, grotesque figures still pleading for forgiveness; she ignored them all. She was fully focused on the path in front of her, determined to reach her goal. She seemed to be walking for ages; Hell did not exist in a truly physical sense, which made travel through it extremely slow and tedious. Eventually, however, she found herself where she had wanted to go; the throne of the Lord of Terror.

A river of souls, screaming horribly, curved past his throne and circled back, cutting off all paths except the one directly facing the throne. The Lord of Terror himself was an imposing figure, sitting in that throne. He was massive, with red and yellow skin. His face had several horns, sticking out of his head and chin. His eyes glowed an eerie yellow, and his mouth was full of fangs. There was a red jewel sticking out of his forehead, rising up like one of his horns. His long, scaly arms ended in massive claws, as did his legs. At the moment, he was sitting down, looking over the woman who had just entered his presence.

"Greetings, Diablo," she said, bowing respectfully.

Diablo remained silent for a moment. Then, in a deep, horrible voice that would make most men shudder in fear, he said, "Lucretia Merces. I must say, I am impressed. Most mortals would go mad on the path to my throne."

"I am not most mortals," was her only response. "I trust you know why I am here?"

"Yes," he replied, continuing to look at her with interest. "You wish me to release two souls that have been sent to me, so that they may participate in this tournament."

"That is correct," she said, smiling.

"You presume much," Diablo growled, a hint of anger in his voice. "Why should I help you gather these participants? I have no interest in whatever noble plans your benefactors might have."

Lucretia continued to smile, despite Diablo's refusal. "I would not dream of asking something of the Lord of Terror without offering something in return. If you do this task for me, I will bring you to the tournament as well, which will take place in the mortal realm. From there, you will be free of the curse that binds you. And if you win, you may yet gain the power to break it."

Diablo remained silent again, but Lucretia noticed that his glowing yellow eyes wandered up to the red jewel sticking out of his forehead, if only for a moment. After what seemed like another eternity, he answered.

"Very well. I will bring these two back. And then we shall leave."

At this, he stood up, turning towards the river winding around the area. He seemed about to perform the task, before hesitating.

"These two are quite powerful, and very dangerous," he said slowly, once again examining Lucretia. "They are imprisoned in one of the lowest, darkest areas of Hell, an area that befits their sins."

"But surely they are not beyond your power?" Lucretia asked, the smile still on her face.

"Of course not," he snarled, the hint of anger returning to his voice. "I was just making certain that you knew the danger of what you ask."

Diablo refocused his attention on the river of souls, entering a state of deep concentration. Minutes passed as nothing happened, until finally something broke the surface of the river. A light emerged from it, but unlike the bright white of most souls, it was randomly fluctuating through colors, as if it couldn't decide what to be. One thing remained the same, however; the colors were always dark, and the very core always remained black.

The ball of light floated into Diablo's waiting hands. He held it for a moment, then breathed on it, whispering the word "Life" as he did so. He then released the ball, and it floated onto the ground in front of Lucretia. There, it glowed intensely, forcing Lucretia to shield her eyes. When she could see again, there was another man standing in front of her. He looked like some sort of demented clown; his clothes, complete with cape, were a bright green, red, and yellow, and his pale face had red markings underneath his eyes. And his eyes...they were normal human eyes, but a look into them sent a shiver down your spine, and left no doubt that this man was completely insane.

"Hm? Hm? What's this, then?" he said, looking around and seeming confused.

He looked as if he was in deep thought. It only lasted a moment, though; the next, he pointed his arms out, letting loose a bolt of lightning, then flames, and finally a stream of ice. At this, his face broke into a demented grin, and he let out a shrill cackle.

"I knew they couldn't keep me there forever! I'm a god, you know, a GOD! Well then, it's time to show them just how wrong they were, yes it is!"

All of this was said to himself; he didn't seem to notice Lucretia and Diablo standing nearby. Soon afterwards, though, he noticed Lucretia watching him. Continuing to smile his horrible smile, he let out a lightning bolt at her, as if to test something. It missed her, however; at the last second, it turned away and missed its target completely. The man was clearly upset by this, and let out several more lightning bolts. All of them veered of course. The man entered into what could only be described as a tantrum, furious that none of them hit their target.

"Why aren't you dying!?" he screamed at her. "You're supposed to be dying!"

"Kefka Palazzo," Lucretia spoke at last, her eyes remaining focused on the man. "I have a proposition for you."

"Don't care!" he responded, letting out another lightning bolt that failed to hit Lucretia. "All I care about is that YOU! WON'T! DIE!" He punctuated the last three words in the sentence by throwing out the largest lightning bolts yet. And they still did not even come close to hitting Lucretia.

"If you really want to see things die," said Lucretia, clearly unfazed by Kefka's attempts to murder her, "then hear me out. I am offering you a chance to participate in a tournament. A tournament full of weak people just begging for a god to show them true power."

Kefka stopped slinging lightning bolts at Lucretia, taking in her words. His chaotic mind processed them for a moment, and then the evil grin returned to his face.

"Okay! When do we leave? Every moment they spend not knowing me is another moment they suffer through the torture known as life!" At this he again let loose a terrifying, soulless cackle. Lucretia, however, remained unfazed.

"We will leave as soon as Diablo procures the third and final person that will be joining us," she replied, gesturing towards Diablo. It seemed that he had taken the time Lucretia had spent speaking with Kefka to search for the second soul. Even then, it was still several minutes (which Kefka spent slinging spells, mocking Diablo and Lucretia, and generally being a pain) before the second soul emerged from the river. This one was completely and utterly black; it was as if it sucked in light rather than actually glowing. Even Lucretia felt a bit of apprehension as Diablo breathed life into the soul and released it.

When it reached the ground and began to shine, a tall man dressed in black appeared before Lucretia. He had long, silver hair, and an even longer sword held at his side. His face was completely and utterly emotionless; even his eyes seemed completely dead. He radiated an aura of power and evil that would chill most men to the bone; Lucretia, normally completely unflappable, felt a small measure of awe and fear in his presence. Before she was able to regain her composure, he spoke to her.

"I already know the details, Miss Merces, and I assure you that I am interested. I suggest we leave quickly, before I am forced to send this one back into the fiery pits." At this he motioned towards Kefka, who was now attempting to hit the man with small fireballs; each one bounced away a few feet from him, and the man did not seem to take notice.

Lucretia closed her mouth and nodded. She removed the bag of dust from the confines of her cloak, and pinched some off the top.

"Very well. Off we go!"

At this, she threw the dust over all four of them. Within moments, they disappeared, leaving Hell behind.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	5. Vyse, Balthier, Vaan

**Prefic: Don't Listen to Ondore's Lies!**

Vyse leaned over the railing of the Delphinus, taking in the morning breeze. It was a perfect day; the sky was clear and blue, the winds were gentle, the Sky Sardis were flying through the air.

And he was bored. Vyse was glad he had achieved peace and stopped the Valuans, but the fact was that there was nothing left for him to do. He had explored every inch of the sky, every uncharted part of the map. He had been to every town and city in the world, visited lost civilizations, and has even gone above and below the sky itself. There was simply nothing left to explore.

"Is something wrong, Vyse?" Vyse turned around to see Aika and Fina standing in front of them. He hadn't even heard them approaching. Vyse smiled and shook his head. "Not really. I'm just a little " "Bored?" Vyse was cut off by a voice he hadn't hear before. The three of them looked around and found a blonde haired woman standing on the deck of the Delphinus. Vyse searched the skies; if she was a black pirate, she would have had to come by ship, as they always checked for stowaways before casting off. But he could see no ship at all; it was like she has just dropped out of the sky.

The woman slowly walk forward, taking her time. "An explorer like you must be pretty bored by now. Would you be interested if I could offer you a new experience?" Vyse hesitated, then slowly nodded. "A tournament of 128 fighters from different worlds and dimension, and you've been invited. Set in a land you've never seen before. What do you say?" Vyse looked at Aika and Fina, and they both smiled and nodded. Vyse followed suit. "How we I say no to that? Let's go!"

Surprisingly, the woman shook her head. "Unfortunately for your friends, only you were invited, Vyse. They have to stay." Vyse's enthusiasm died down as he glanced at Aika and Fina. Both had downcast looks on their faces. A few seconds past, then Aika seemed to perk up. "Oh, well. You go have fun, Vyse." Vyse was torn. "But…I don't want to do it without you guys." "Hey, we all know you love exploring more than any of us. It wouldn't be fair if we kept you from going." Vyse returned has gaze to the blonde haired woman. "Will I be gone for long?" She shook her head. "You'll be returned soon enough." Vyse nodded and stepped forward.

"So, miss…" "Lucretia." "Lucretia? How do we get to this tournament?" The only thing Vyse could think of was a new type of cloaking device that could hide a ship in plain sight. All Lucretia did was pull out a pouch that seemed to have nothing but dust in it. She seemed confident, though. This woman was full of surprises. "We're not going to the tournament just yet. We have to pick up some other contestants first, and I've found that it's easier if I bring along help."

Vaan ran backwards while keeping his enemy at a distance, knowing that it was impossible for him to try and deflect six swords at once. He almost tripped over the unconscious body of Fran, who had taken a bad hit in the beginning. A shot rang out, and one of Gilgamesh's swords jerked as the bullet bounced off of it. Vaan heard a faint curse from somewhere behind him; Balthier simply couldn't get in a good shot with all those swords in front of Gilgamesh's body.

"Fools! You may have beaten me once before, but you should have known I would return! Your swords will be mine!" Out of all the opponents Vaan had faced since he had left with Balthier and Fran to become a sky pirate, Gilgamesh was one of the toughest, and easily the most peculiar.

Vaan felt something hit the back of his foot, and he stumbled backwards. At first he was confused, wondering if he had circled around to Fran's body already, when he realized the body had fur. Well, more fur. It was Enkidu, Gilgamesh's faithful canine companion, who had been taken out early as well. As soon as he saw he had an opening, Gilgamesh took his chance and charged, his six swords ready to end the fight. Another shot rang out, and this time Vaan saw it had hit, as Gilgamesh let out a cry of pain and one of his arms dropped its sword. But he didn't stop running, and Vaan was still getting back up.

Two people appeared between Vaan and Gilgamesh, seemingly out of thin air. Vaan had never seen either of them before in his life, and they seemed oblivious to the situation at hand. "Alright," the woman began, "There should be two of them around this area…" she trailed off as her eyes finally saw Gilgamesh, who hadn't stopped his charge, apparently noy too surprised to see people popping out of nowhere, as if they had traveled from another dimension.

The boy, who Vaan guessed was around his age, drew two cutlass style swords and defended himself against. Gilgamesh was momentarily stunned; the boy was surprisingly skilled. His surprise wore off, though, and he quickly gained a small upper hand on the boy. Vaan quickly hurried to the fight to help his new ally, and together they seemed to be even with Gilgamesh. If Balthier could get off another well placed shot…

"Alright, this had gone on long enough. I don't have time for this. All of you stop!." Strangely enough, they all did. Something about the woman and her tone of voice made them all obey, as if she was the authority around here and expected them to listen. "Whichever of you are Vaan and Balthier, come here. I have a proposition for you." Balthier walked up to where everyone was standing, resting his gun against his shoulder. "And who might you be? Vaan, you know her?" Vaan shook his head. "No, I've never seen her in my life." The woman cleared her throat, getting their attention. "You have both been invited to take part in a tournament of 128 fighters. You've already met Vyse over here " she pointed to the boy, who smiled and gave a small wave. "He's one of the 128."

Balthier stroked his chin in mock consideration. "Will there be…how should I put this…monetary prizes?" The woman gave a sly grin. "Perhaps. Why don't you come along and find out?" Balthier gave a quick look to Vaan, who nodded. "Eh, might as well. Vaan, go toss Fran a Phoenix Down and bring her up to speed. I'll be chatting with our new friend here to find out the exact details of this tournament." Gilgamesh laughed. "Hahaha! 128 fights, you say? There will be plenty of swords for me to collect! Gilgamesh accepts your invitation!" Vaan turned to leave, but the woman sighed and motioned for him to stay.

"How many times will I have to go through with this?...Only you two are invited. Not your Fran, and not you." she said, pointing at Gilgamesh. There was a moment of silence, which Gilgamesh broke. "But…that's not fair! I'm stronger than any of these people here!" the woman shrugged. "Sorry, but it's just how it is. You weren't invited." Gilgamesh gave a quick grunt, and slowly walked around in circle, pouting. Balthier stood still, actually in thought this time. "Neither of us would forgive the other if the other didn't take this sort of opportunity…alright, I'll go, but I'll need to explain the situation to Fran first." "No," the woman began. "I'm on a schedule. We need to leave as soon as possible." "But…" "Don't worry, I'll make sure she knows what happened." Balthier hesitated for a moment, and then holstered his gun. "Alright then." The woman pulled out a small pouch, which seemed to contain a strange dust. She threw some at Balthier, then Vyse. They both disappeared. Vaan didn't have time to prepare himself before she threw some at him too, making him vanish.

Lucretia nodded. A job well done, except for one thing. "You, Gilgamesh. Tell that Fran girl what happened when she wakes up. Okay? Good." Before he could answer back, she poured some dust over herself and disappeared, leaving behind one very sulky six armed warrior.

By KamikazePotato


	6. Snake, Raiden, Liquid, Ocelot, Bosses

**Prefic: Time Paradox**

Through his binoculars, Naked Snake could see the guard that stood at the entrance to the building. It was a building that was oddly out of place. He had already defeated all of the Cobras. The End, The Fear, The Pain, and The Fury. Well all of them except for The Joy. He had supposed that she would be his next obstacle. Could he defeat her? Did he have to? Those questions didn't really run through his mind. There were no more questions. There were no more answers. He was a soldier, and he would do or he would die. It was as simple as that.

The guard had a set pattern to guarding the building from intruders. He would pace ten steps to the left, and then round the corner. It would take him one minute and twenty two seconds to finish looking at one the left corner. He would then pace eleven steps to the right, and then round the other corner. It would take him slightly longer to check the eastern side of the building, one minuted and twenty six seconds to be exact. Naked Snake figured that this would be his best chance at entering the door. But he judged his distance from the building, and saw that he couldn't make it in time from where he was. When the guard started rounding back towards the end of the corner at approximately fifty three seconds, Naked Snake would be in a danger zone. At that point, the guard could hear him. This would likely set off the guard, and cause him to pick up the pace. This wouldn't allow him to enter the building undetected. Naked Snake knew exactly what he had to do, he had to create a diversion.

In another time, in a similar place was Solid Snake, son of Big Boss. Only his view of the building that was before him, was much clearer. There were two guards, each of them cycling so that there was only one point in which each of them had a blind spot to the entrance to the building. There was a very small window of time for Snake to get into the building. Eight seconds wouldn't be nearly enough to allow him to get into the building. Not without disrupting the guards pattern. But how could he do it? There wasn't time for a diversion. No, the only thing he could do was slow one of the soldiers down. And he had just the plan to do it. All he had to do was call Otacon.

"Otacon, can you read me?"

"I'm here Snake."

"I need you to tamper with the frequencies on the guards radios. You should have the frequencies already."

"I sure do Snake. It'll only take a minute".

In yet another time, and in yet another similar place, was another son of Big Boss, Liquid Snake. He too was standing in front of a guarded building. He had put off his plans to put Metal Gear into use on hold, until he was able to explore this building. The guards were nothing like the guards that Liquid had used to work in Outer Haven. They did not move from their post in front of the door. They didn't monitor the premises like Liquids soldiers did. But he wouldn't need to get them to move. He didn't care about stealth that much anymore. He had another way to get in. He'd kill them both.

The only decision he really needed to make was which one to kill first. The one ont he left, or the one on the right. With his sniper rifle ready, he could've taken either of them out first. It would the be only a matter of seconds before he killed the other one. Which would he let live longer? Their fate was in his hands. They both would be dying soon enough. All it would take was the pull of a trigger. How the lowly humans build their weapons, only to be killed by them. No, that wasn't right. Weapons didn't kill. Weapons can't kill. Not on their own at least. They take human operation to do that. A weapon like a gun doesn't make two men equal. Whoever is better skilled at using the weapon will be the one that wins. Liquids Sniper Rifle wouldn't kill the two men themselves. Of course Liquid wouldn't have it that way even if they could.

Back in the era of Naked Snake, someone else was trying to enter the exact same building as him. It was The Boss, one of the most legendary soldiers in American History. The woman who betrayed her country and turned spy. At least that's how the story goes. Nobody knows the truth, nobody who's willing to talk anyway. The Boss didn't want to enter the building, but somehow it compelled her to do so anyway. It was as if she were being drawn to it... And the was only a single guard pacing back and forth in front of it. One of Volgins' men no doubt. No match for the legendary Boss. Judging by his movements, she would have exactly nineteen seconds to get in behind him, and snap his neck. The question was, was it worth it?

Of course it was. The building was far too compelling for her not to enter. It was somehow calling to her. Begging her to enter it. It was a building that wasn't supposed to be there. The Joy almost questioned if it was there, but she had seen it with her own eyes. It had to be there. And there was a guard protecting it from intruders. She couldn't have been imagining that. No, there was no question about it. The building was there. And The Boss would be entering it shortly. All she had to do, was wait for the guard to pace towards the right, keeping her out of his line of sight just long enough to snap his neck.

The Boss wasn't the only one trying to enter the same building as someone else. In Solid Snakes era, Raiden was trying to get in as well. Solid Snake had asked him to go along. The Legendary Solid Snake. It wasn't an offer he could refuse. In fact he had felt honored by his friends request. Wow. Calling him a friend. Raiden felt more honored about that than anything. Though he wasn't sure Snake considered him a friend. No, Snake probably considered him an ally, at least until they were no longer on the same side of the war. That's how things were though. That's how it always was with soldiers. There wasn't a definition of good and evil for soldiers. There was my side, and yours.

Raiden had two guards to deal with, to get into the building. Both of them would allow him only thirty seconds to get into the building. But Raiden knew just how to pull it off. Through his recent training, he had become more ninja like than ever. He was agile enough to fit through the tiny crack above the door. If he timed things right, he could make it in, just in time. If he were Solid Snake, he could probably do it faster than that. But he wasn't. He was Raiden. He wasn't Snake, and he never would be. Everybody knew that. But Raiden was going to prove himself, to Snake, and to everybody else.

Liquid also had someone trying to enter the same building as him. Revolver Ocelot. "Liquid is so damn interested in this building. I better find out why" Ocelot said to himself. There were nine guards at the entrance, that was pretty heavily guarded for a small building such as that one. Ocelot knew that he'd have a better chance if he went around to Liquids side, and followed him in. But what fun would that be? Besides, Ocelot wouldn't have trouble with nine poorly trained soldiers. He wasn't even going to bother with stealth. Didn't need it. He was Revolver Ocelot, and he had earned his nickname for a reason.

No, Ocelot didn't bother with stealth. It wasn't worth it on these grunts. He could've probably killed them all before the first one hit the ground, and he would've never been seen. But he had a better idea, a way to make it a lot more fun. He'd simply walk right up to them, and ask them if he could enter. If they said yes? Well they wouldn't. But if they did, he'd kill them anyway. If they said no? Well he'd kill them. It was as simple as that. Either answer would get them killed. It was Russian Roulette with the gun loaded. That's how Ocelot always played.

Naked Snake tossed a pebble that had been laying on the ground, and angled it precisely to ricochet off a tree, bounce off another tree, onto a leaf that would promptly break from the exact weight of the pebble, in land in the pond on the other side. Boop. The guard turned his attention towards the pond, and Naked Snake rushed to the door. He opened it and stepped inside. Success, with twelve seconds to spare. Once inside, he didn't see any guards in the corridor. Naked Snake noticed that it wasn't very long, perhaps fourteen feet in length. At the end, there was an entry way. He slowly walked up towards it, and looked beyond it. Again, no guards. This was odd. Was it a trap? No... if it were a trap, why go through the trouble of putting a guard out front? As he passed through the entry way, he felt strange. As if a lot of time had gone by. It felt quite unnatural. But he didn't let it bother him. He just kept going. He went down the path leading straight, to see if there were any guards this way. But there weren't any. But there was a large door, and beyond it, he could see where the guards were. There were about eight of them, maybe nine at most. He could also see a door with the red number 3 on it. Naked Snake knew somehow that was where he needed to go. What was beyond that door? Why was it important? He didn't question his instincts.

To his right, there was a small air duct that he could enter. He thought it was awfully convenient, but decided to crawl up into it anyway. It had to lead into the room with the eight or nine guards. The room with the door with the red number 3 on it. It was almost damp inside the duct, and completely dark. Naked Snake crawled along, trying to figure out the correct direction to go. How much longer would it take? He could barely see that there were two paths that branched off in front of him. One led to the right, and one led to the left. He decided to go down the left path first. Knowing that it had to lead somewhere, even if it was only a dead end. But it lead exactly where he had hoped it would lead. Right into the room with the door he wished to enter. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get past the guards. There were, as he expected, eight guards. Each of them had their own pattern of movement. Guard #1 for example, would take eleven seconds to walk up to the second floor, spend thirty five seconds up there, and then take another elven seconds to return to the first floor where he'd spend thirty five seconds. But Naked Snake had a pretty good idea of how to disrupt their movement patterns.

He crawled out of the duct, onto the second floor of the room. He snuck his way over to the nearby door, and opened it slowly, so as not to make any noise. He quickly entered the door, and shut it behind him. He didn't believe that any of the guards would check the room, but he crawled into the nearby locker anyways. There was a poster a scantily clad model on the door of the locker. "At least I'll have something to look at" he thought to himself. He crawled into the locker, and waited. He waited for five minutes, knowing that if they didn't check it by then, they wouldn't. He then came out of the locker, and went to the nearby desk. There he grabbed a copy of Playboy. He was tempted to look at it, but he had work to do. He could buy all the copies he wanted when he was finished with his mission. He slowly opened the door, and walked back into the room where he had been before. He had timed it just right to give him one minute to complete this task. He dropped the magazine through over the railing, landing square behind the soldier.

"Hey, who dropped this?" one of the guards said.

Naked Snake was smiling. Guards were so simple, they always were.

"She's pretty hot!" he said, calling the other guards to him. Naked Snake was slightly disappointed that people who considered themselves soldiers were so easily tricked. He eased down the stairs, and slid over to the door with the red three on it. He entered it without even being noticed. He was now in another short corridor. This time there was only one path to take, and there was a door at the end. Naked Snake felt this was the door he had to enter. Behind it, would be what he came for. Though he wasn't sure what it was, he was ready to find out. He walked down the corridor, and grabbed the door handle. He let go of it. He couldn't let curiosity get the better of him. He knocked on the door, and listened for footsteps. There was nothing. He waited a minute, until he was sure that there was nobody behind there. He grabbed the handle again, and turned.

"Snake!" Otacon ejaculated.

Snake was startled by Otacon's voice. Solid Snake wasn't easily startled, but an anime lover like Otacon was just the man that could do it. The excitement in Otacon's voice was a pleasant surprise though. It would be a relief if Otacon could call one of the soldiers. That way he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty. Not like that last time. Snake was getting too old for that. Not that he couldn't handle it. No, quite the opposite. Snake could've handled it with the utmost ease. But Snake figured that it'd be better if he did it this way.

"I'm sending a call to one of the guards frequencies, it should buy you an extra fourteen seconds" Otacon reported.

That was great. It would be more than enough to get Solid Snake into the building undetected. Snake wondered how Raiden was fairing on his end. He wondered if he should have had Otacon watch the boy. No, not the boy. The soldier. That's what Raiden was now. Maybe not the level of Snake, but certainly a soldier nonetheless. Better than those that were guarding the building Snake wished to enter.

"I can also tell you that, from the floor plans, you'll want to enter a door with the blue number 4 on it." Otacon explained.

That was what he was so excited about. He was able to give Snake more information about the building. Something he had previously thought was impossible. But he had managed to hack into some old files to find something on it. Yeah, the blue number four. But what was behind the door? Not even Otacon could find that out. Only Snake could. And he'd have to go in to find out. The call was placed on the radio, as Snake made a move for it. He managed to get into the building with exactly four seconds to spare. Once on the inside, he found himself in a long corridor. It was approximately twenty feet long, but not very wide. And at the end there was an entry way, one that wasn't too dissimilar to the one Big Boss had entered. Snake quickly made his way to the end of the corridor, and peaked around each of the corners. To the left there was a door. To the right, there was also a door. And in front of everything, was a box that was labeled "4". Snake laughed at how simple this would be. There could've been a dozen guards in the room leading to door 4, and he would still get in without a problem.

Snake waited for the guard who was pacing up and down the hallway was facing away from the box to make his move. He passed through the gate, and a strange sensation hit him. What was it? He couldn't let it bother him. Not now, he'd get caught. He crawled over to the box, and got under it. Yeah, piece of cake. The oldest trick in the book? Perhaps. But it still worked. Better than anything ever had. He inched the box to the door, making sure that he timed it so that the guard didn't see the box moving. Now that'd certainly give him away, no matter how clever he was. He knocked on the door to the right, and waited for somebody to pick it up. A guard opened the door, and gave a confused look at the box. There was no expected delivery today, was there? He didn't give it another thought. The last person who did, was fired. So he placed the box on the cart, and wheeled it over to the door with the blue four on it. Snake held in a snicker. This was way too easy to be doing. He figured even Raiden could do something like this. From the voices, he could tell there was about fourteen soldiers there. Plenty of soldiers, and Snake figured he could've gotten past them all. In fact he did get past them all, of course he used a pretty dirty tactic. But it didn't matter. Not now.

The box was placed on the other side of the door, and Snake crawled out from underneath it. There were no guards here, just a door at the end of the corridor. It too was long, perhaps twenty five feet long. He made his way to the door. He tapped on the door, to see if he'd hear anybody coming. Nobody. Not a sound, not even from the other end of the corridor. It had been almost too easy. But he had no choice now, there was no turning back. He placed his hand on the handle, and pulled on it.

BANG. Liquid shot the first guard. BANG. The second was down in a matter of seconds as well. Liquid jumped out of the tree he had conveniently hidden himself in. He then walked up to the door, and went inside. Once inside, he found himself in a very short corridor, maybe four feet in length. The entry way ahead was very close. Liquid had only to take a couple of steps to go through it. And once he did, he had felt awfully weird. It wasn't normal... why was this happening? No, how would be a better question. But it didn't matter. There were two guards patrolling the hallway. Bang. Bang. Both of them were killed in a matter of seconds. Against Liquid Snake they were nothing. He peered into the door ahead of him. Through the window he saw a total of eleven soldiers. "Only eleven" he thought. He sounded disappointed, because he was. He wanted more, he needed more. He had to test himself out. If he was ever going to face his brother, he had to. Inferior? No. Only according to science. Not according to skill. That's what really mattered. That's all that mattered. Inferior? No. Superior. Not just to the genome soldiers, but to Solid Snake. Liquid figured Big Boss would see it that way too.

Liquid pulled a knife out of his pocket. He figured that he would need it, no he knew that he would. He quickly threw the door open, and chucked his knife towards the guard on the far side of the room. Before they could pull their weapons out, Liquid pulled his out, and shot the guard to the right. He then took cover behind the stairwell. The guards inched their way towards Liquid. Not that it mattered. It would only prolong their pathetic existence. The first came. And then the second, and the third, and then the fourth. Each of them came, one by one like the fools they were. And one by one they were killed by Liquids gun. Eleven bodies now lay before him, none of them were his concern though. They never were. Why would they be? Sure he had taken their lives, but they were soldiers, surely they expected to die. Even Liquid expected to die someday. Though not like these pigs. No, Liquid was going to go down guns blazing. That's exactly how he wanted it.

Liquid stepped out into the middle of the room. The only thing that stood out was the large door with the number 9 in green. Liquid pushed the door open quite forcefully, and was disappointed there were no more guards. Only a door at the end of another small corridor that was maybe five feet long. Without thinking, Liquid grabbed the handle. He was ready to enter.

The Boss had snuck around to the left corner of the building, as she waited for the singular guard to make his way to her. Her hands were in the ready position. Three... two... one... SNAP. The guards head was twisted in such a way that no doctor could ever heal him. The Boss tossed his body to the ground. She then entered the door, and ran down the coridor with her gun in her hand. She paused only momentarily when she passed through an entry way. It was only for a moment though. Then she pulled the trigger on both guns, and brought both guards, who were in the exact position she expected them to be in, to the ground. She then turned to the left door, and kicked it down with her foot, as she reloaded. Just in case there were more guards than she expected. There weren't. She shot the first two guards, before throwing her gun down. She didn't need it for the other ten. No, she'd do things the harder way. Most of the guards were trembling. That's how they almost always were when they saw Voyevoda. She snapped the firsts neck, as she had done to his friend guarding the door out front. The second, she was far more lenient to, and just broke his arm in more than six places. The third, she elbowed, and the fourth she kicked, both at the same time. The fifth, sixth, and seventh made the mistake of charging at her, as she was able to disarm them all with a simple maneuver. They were all pathetic before the Boss. She snapped all of their necked, leaving only the last three. She knocked them all over with one kick, and then snapped their neck. She smiled at the bodies lying mangled on the floor.

She turned her attention to the large door with the pink number 2 on it. She never cared too much for the color. But she didn't give it much thought. She kicked the door down, and as expected there were no guards. People who hid things were generally idiots. She could almost always figure them out. She grabbed the handle on the door at the end of the hallway. She was ready to enter.

One. Two. Three. Four. Raiden was counting. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Now! Raiden jumped out of the tree that he had been sitting in. He flipped towards the door, and jumped through the crack on the door. Yeah, he had made it. Snake would be proud of him, he was sure. Well maybe not. But he thought he did a good job still. He got into the building anyway. And there were no guards here, which was a relief for him. Just a corridor, with a small entry way at the end. Yeah, he could make it through that. He flipped his way over there, but stopped at the entry way. There might be guards. Raiden peeked around the corner, but saw nobody on either side. Another relief. What he didn't see, was the box that was sitting almost in front of him. That would've been useful. But he didn't think like that, because he wasn't Snake. He never would be, and that was more proof of it. Though Raiden didn't recognize it. He couldn't, not as long as he were Raiden. Not that he wasn't impressive himself. He just wasn't Snake.

He entered the door to the right, without regard to how many soldiers there were on the other side. But for Raiden it didn't matter. He flipped his way towards the door with the Orange number 4 on it. He quickly opened the door, and without getting shot by any of the four soldiers, he had managed to make it in. He had a few close calls, but the soldiers were slow. If it were Ocelot... if it were Liquid... if it were anyone but those Genome Soldiers, Raiden would be dead right now. But lucky for him, they weren't Liquid, or Ocelot. They were grunts, who probably couldn't have shot a stationary target. He blocked the door off the best as he could, and ran for the other end. He turned the handle as quickly as he could, hoping to get in, before the Soldiers rushed him.

"Well hello boys" Ocelot said.

The Soldiers didn't speak. "Mind if I come in?" Ocelot asked, almost taunting them. They still didn't speak a word. "Alright then, let's have some fun".

Ocelot pulled out his dual revolvers, and pulled the trigger on the left four times, and the trigger on the right five times, all before any of them had the chance to pull their weapons out and shoot at him. The first hadn't hit the ground, until the last had a bullet in his chest. Ocelot smiled. A job well done.

Meanwhile, in a central room somewhere Lucretia was waiting. She looked at the time on the far wall. She never did like technology very much. But she had timed everything perfectly. In exactly three seconds, just as she expected, five doors opened up. Solid Snake, Big Boss, The Boss, Liquid Snake, and Raiden all entered the doors. All of them were surprised. Snake at seeing himself... no at seeing Big Boss. At seeing Liquid. Big Boss was surprised by seeing The Boss here. Was it her plan all along? And who was the woman in the center? And who was the man who looked like him? Why was he here? The Boss was surprised to see two Snakes. One had an eye patch, and the other didn't. But who was the one without the eye patch? Liquid was surprised to see that his brother was here. Well he wasn't sure which one was really Snake, or if both were Snake, or what. It was all too confusing. Raiden was just plain confused. Two Solid Snakes? The legendary Boss? How was this happening?

"Welcome. The five of you are being invited to a tournament of the best soldiers... no fighters in the multiverse." Lucretia began, with that smile on her face. "You will all be coming, I trust. Hmmm..." she said. Just then, a sixth person bust through the sixth door. "I'm glad you could make it Shalashaska"

"I can't believe this actually worked Lucretia". Ocelot said.

Lucretia. The five people all took mental note of it.

"Alright then. Before we get going, I must tell you that you must avoid making time paradoxes at all costs. When you entered the entry way in the first corridor, you stepped through a time door. This means that you are all in the same time period. But you must not create a time paradox. If you do so, we will modify your memory using a memory bracelet. Don't believe that we won't, because we will."

Everyone except Ocelot was confused. Time Paradox? Who was this Lucretia? What was she doing here? It didn't matter, because she was soon sprinkling travel dust on them, sending them off to a far away place.

By Cloud and Squall


	7. L Block, 47, Marcus, Nathan, Chief

**Prefic: How do I shot L-Block?**

"What the hell is this? They send me to get a block?" Lucretia brooded as she watched the different colored blocks fall into order, "How the hell will it fight? Ugh..."

This world was completely black save for one screen, probably about 3 feet tall and wide, that was floating in front of her. A game where blocks would fall and had to be lined up was being played by itself inside, or was someone playing it? Whatever the case, Lucretia simply plucked one of the L-shaped blocks from it's comfy spot on the board and tucked it in her pocket. She'd probably have to enchant it later or something, Blood and Flame weren't clear on that.

"What a waste. They picked a lifeless piece over Tifa? Please..." she said to herself as she sprinkled dust over her head. She though of her next dark, secluded destination.

Agent 47 pondered over his two silverballers as he customed-tuned them for the third time that week. He was lost in though over the people he had assassinated that week, he felt no remorse, however at each hit he would catch sight of a beautiful blonde woman in strange clothing. Whether passing her while in disguise or seeing her through his rifle's scope, no matter what the mission or where it was he would always see her.

Was she an enemy agent? Was it all just a big coincidence? Perhaps he had been around cosplay conventions. But in Saudi Arabia? It didn't make sense. It couldn't be Diana, he had met her in person before. 47 attempted to rid himself of these thoughts, as they could interfere with his next assignments. He would look foolish if he slipped up killing an ambassador or a weapons dealer, just because he was looking around for this woman.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps on the creaking floorboards of his dark, barren hideout. He looked from his pet bird to his silverballers, which he had just finished reloading. He had gone through this before, Diana set him up and drugged him into a false death so that he could be "captured," then she kissed him at his funeral while wearing the antidote lipstick, so he could reawaken and kill his pursuer who had been tracking him for months. He was foolish and unprepared, even though it was to benefit him, he let his guard down and was hit from behind.

This would not happen again. He stood around the corner that the stairs lead to, and waited patiently. He wouldn't shoot at first, he wanted a good look at the one who had found his hideout, and ask them who tipped them off. Then he would kill them, and leave no evidence, the mark of a hitman.

The footsteps grew nearer, and soon Agent 47 found himself face-to-face with the woman who had woven her way through his thoughts: the beautiful blonde woman in her strange clothing had found him, but how?

He lowered his silverballer, and the woman took the opportunity to grab his arm, slam it against her knee causing him to drop his gun, get him in a half-nelson, and put a strange L-shaped block to his head.

"I thought you weren't going to let your guard down again?" she asked slyly.

"How did you-" Agent 47 asked in his shrill voice.

"Oh, I know everything about you, Tobias? Julio? Metzger? David? Which one is it doday?"

"Who the hell are you? Who sent you?"

Lucretia released 47, and he turned around, rubbing his arm.

"I don't usually fight, but I'd like this to serve as an example," she said, twirling the L-Block in her fingers, "Let me get straight to the point: I have a job for you, 47."

"Then call the number, you should know it if you know everything." he said as he strode back to his work bench and sat down, "I should kill you now, but you've peaked my interest. Might as well hear you out. Have a set," he motioned to the wooden chair across from him.

Lucretia sat across from him, and got to right to the point. She took out a large sack of green stones, placed it on the table with a thunk, and pushed it forward. "I want you to come with me. Dimension hopping. We'll pick up some more... assets, then you will compete with 127 others in a tournament of champions. You win, you get the money. I'll even give you double this for just coming."

47 stared at her in disbelief. Dimension hopping? She must have been insane. But the jewels on the table spoke to him gently, telling him that she was telling the truth, and that he should go along with her. He pulled out a jewelry loop from the desk draw and began examining one.

"I've never seen anything like it before. Where did you get these?" he asked, intrigued.

"A little place called Hyrule. You've probably never heard of it."

"Never. Another dimension, I suppose?" he responded with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes, and there's plenty more where that came from," she said as she pulled purple versions of the gems out of her pocket, "shall we be off?"

47 glanced down at the jewels, and then at Lucretia. Money talks.

He stood up, took her hand and helped her up and within seconds was sprinkled with dust and whisked away.

The green-armored Spartan did a barrel roll from one sniping position to the next. He checked the new area for any sign of the Covenant, and, while there was evidence of a temporary base that once existed there recently, there was nothing left but the technology. But why would the Covenant leave it behind?

"Maybe they were driven off by something. I don't see any blood, but even then they would fight to the death..." spoke the Chief's AI, Cortana, who "lived" in his helmet.

"It's no matter, I would have killed them anyway. Those Covenant and their Prophets... will they ever-" The Chief stopped mid-sentence, his radar showed multiple enemies on his radar, encircling him, surrounding him. He raised his battle rifle but couldn't see any of them. Cloaking devices? The Covenant had them, but they were never this effective..

The Chief spun around, desperately looking for the source of the dots on his radar. He spun quickly to the left, where he was met by the sight of a blond woman in a strange dress, carrying one of the Marines' new radar-jamming devices.

"Hey there!" she smiled. The next thing the Chief new, he was hit from behind by a large, metal object, and fell to the ground. The last thing he saw was the outlines of three human figures standing over him, and the woman walking over to join them.

"Rise and shine, bucket head!" came the deep, gravelly voice of the largest of the four figures. Master Chief was kicked in the head by his large boot, and rolled off the rock that his head was layed upon. "We've been waiting for 5 whole minutes. The Locusts aren't going to take a break until I get back to kick their asses." Suddenly, the green-clad hero rolled to the left and jolted up, and he grabbed the spare pistol he kept in one of his armor's secret compartments. It was much more spacious than people seemed to think it was. He pointed it at the blonde, and ordered the others to drop their weapons.

He took a look at his attackers: A bald man in a black suit with two old-style silverballers circa 2000, a large man with a bandana and bulky armor holding a large assault rifle with a chainsaw attached to its bottom, and a bald man in a WWII invasion uniform holding a large shotgun that looked like it had come from another planet. They all dropped their weapons begrudgingly.

"Miss, can you just tell him what you told us so we can get out of here?" asked the WWII soldier with the strange gun.

"Yeah, he doesn't look like he'd need much convincing," said the big one.

The woman, ignoring the gun pointed at her face, took a few step forward. "My name is Lucretia, and I am here to take you to a tournament of 128 of the universe's strongest. You win? We take care of this alien problem you're having. It's as simple as that. Now, hurry along, I have too many people to take care of to be held up here."

The Master Chief did not drop his weapon. Behind his visor was the face of a dumbstruck man. He waited for Cortana to deliver a sarcastic quip, but none came.

"Cortana?" he asked aloud, "Where the hell is she?"

"We took the liberty of removing her, you'll get her back after you've won or have been eliminated. Now can we please go? I'm usually very patient but today has been a bit much, all these alien infested planets... They get kind of tiresome."

"How the hell can I trust you?" he asked.

"For the love of..." the big one started, "Just get on with the ing show, lady! Show him what you showed us!"

Lucretia smiled, nodded, and pulled out the L-Shaped block. She pointed it at a small hill and said "Bam!"

The man in black, standing back, pressed a button on a trigger behind his back, and the hill exploded. He showed no remorse in deceiving his fellow warriors.

Lucretia smiled, "I can supply you with power beyond imagining. Now, come along, we don't have much time before the matches start."

The Chief slowly lowered his gun and stepped forward. This was definitely one of the odder days he had experienced in his lifetime, but it couldn't hurt to try to win this power to help save the earth.

"Marcus Fenix." said the big man.

"Nathan Hale." said the man in the WWII get-up.

"Agent 47." said the man in black.

"We're off!" Lucretia said as she threw some Travel Dust into the air, and they disappeared once more.

By ZenOfThunder


	8. Tom Nook, Duke Nukem

**Prefic: Shine on, You Crazy Racoon**

"Just remember, try to get in a payment of at least 1000 bells a week, or I'll set the raccoon goons on you! No, no, I'm just kidding." He added hastily, as he saw the horrified look on the human's face. Moments after the human left, Tom Nook picked up the phone and dialed 1-800-GOON. The phone rang a few times, and then was answered by burly voice asking him what he wanted.

"Tony? Yeah, it's Tom. Put the boys on alert. If this guy doesn't start coughing up the bells I want them to teach him a lesson. Yeah, it's right in the middle of town next to three other houses that no one else is living in. You can't miss it. Actually, you might want to just send them now. He looks like a deadbeat and I'll be too busy to send them in next week. Okay? Yeah, thanks, bye."

As Tom Nook hung up the phone, one of the residents of their little town, Axl the Elephant, walked in. "Hey, Tom?" Axl began. I just bought this Beautiful Table from ya, but then I realized, well, I'm a guy, and it's a BEAUTIFUL Table. People could get ideas, ya know? I'd like to sell it back to ya."

Tom Nook gave a wide, relaxing, and completely sincere smile that Axl mistook for a good sign. "Why, certainly! I'll buy it from you for 500 bells ." Axl's mouth hung open.

"But I bought it from you for 2000 bells !" Tom Nook took a comforting tone. "I know, Axl. But now it's used. Customers aren't so quick to pay for used thing, you know?"

"But I just bought it from you 10 minutes ago! I haven't even put it in my house yet!" Tom Nook sadly shook his head.

"Do you want me to become a beggar, Axl? Is that it? Do you want to cheat poor Tom?"

"No..." Axl slowly said, confused as to why he suddenly felt guilty. "I guess I can sell it to ya for 500 bells, I just have to be more careful in buying things. Tom Nook smiled happily.

"That's the spirit!"

After Axl had left, Tom Nook entered the back room of his shop. Inside were two smaller raccoons, Timmy and Tommy. When he entered, both of them froze as if cold water had been poured over them. "Well, boys. Are you both working hard, studying math, learning proper etiquette for being store assistants?" Both of them quickly nodded, not daring to say a word. "Good!" Tom Nook cried out cheerfully, and turned to leave.

"Uh, Mr. Nook?" Timmy called out hopefully. "I've been looking up stuff, and I think there's a child labor law that prevents this sort of thing..." he trailed off. Tom Nook didn't bother to turn around.

"What's that, Timmy? You don't want dinner tonight? You're not hungry? Well, you do look a little thin, but if you don' want to eat, I won't force you." He closed the door behind him, leaving two very sad little raccoons behind him.

_We now conclude the epic tale of the FPS characters nobody cares about. With Tom Nook._

After sweeping the shop and preparing to restock the shelves for the big Day-After-Thanksgiving sale, Nook was surprised to hear the door slide open, and hear several people move into the shop and begin chatting.

"Let me see that L-Shaped thing again" came a deep, intimidating voice.

"No, you want the power, you win the tournament," spoke a woman's voice.

"Fine, and, you know, Ms. Lucretia... I do like a good cigar and a bad woman."

There was no response. Nook, never too intimidated to try to push poorly-made goods on a customer, decided to make his way to the entrance.

"Ho ho! Welcome to Nookingtons! Feel free to browse, but not to carouse!" he smiled in his cheerful facade. His bright smile was returned by a large handgun shoved in his face by a blonde man wearing sunglasses.

"I'm here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum," he said.

Tom Nook, who had experienced having a gun in his face several times in his life, took the chance to survey the men in his shop. They were all quite large, much bigger than the one human who lived there. There was a man in a WWII uniform, a man in heavy armor with a chainsaw that was also a gun, a bald man in black, a man in dark green armor with a shining yellow visor, and a voluptuous blonde woman in a dress.

"Mr. Racoon," said the man in the WWII uniform, pushing Duke's gun away, "we're looking for a Tom Nook. Do you know where he is?"

Before Tom could respond, the woman turned to the soldier and informed him "Mr. Racoon here is Tom Nook, and," she turned to him, "we'd love for you to come with us to compete in a tournament. Isn't that right, Duke?"

"I'll rip your head off and down your neck." responded the large blonde man.

"Well, that's just lovely."

"I've got balls of steel."

"You like one liners, we get it."

"Hail to the king, baby!"

"Enough!" all the other men screamed in unison, and they all pointed their guns at Duke, fed up with his witty banter stolen from Army of Darkness (which is an awesome movie.)

"Oi..." the big one grunted as he fell back onto the Lovely Couch, leaving a great smear on it from all the explosions the armor had been through.

"You're paying for that!" Nook piped up.

"You know what? Here." The bandana-clad soldier threw a live grenade at Nook, who caught it, screamed, and threw it at the door, which Lucky, the dog covered head-to-toes in bandages, caught. He screamed, ran out the door, and an explosion was heard in the distance.

"He was the reason they invented birth control," quipped Duke.

Silence.

"So... Mr. Nook..." Lucretia started, "I have some very personal information in this folder, including pics now. I could turn this into that cute little dog at the police station and get you locked up for a very, very long time." She smiled slightly as she waved the folder in front of his face.

Nook's mouth (he does have a mouth under that nose) gaped open, he grabbed the folder out of her hands, and found several pictures, some of Timmy and Tommy in the back room, some of him counting bells as a human was beat up by three large racoons in the background, as well as pictures from his trip to Tijuana.

"...I'll go! I'll go! Just burn this! Don't let anyone see it!" he pleaded, throwing himself on the floor in front of Lucretia.

He looked up, catching the fleeting view of dust being sprinkled on his head.

"All aboard the Lucretia Express...TO HELL!" Duke yelled as he used the shotgun on his back as a guitar.

Nook intro by KamikazePotato

Everything below that by ZenOfThunder


	9. CATS

**Prefic: IN A.D. 2102, WAR WAS OVER **

There was an explosion that rocked the galaxy as CAPTAIN's ship rocked from side to side. He had been set up the bomb, but who could have done it? CATS was in the jail at the back of the ship, being transported to his trial.

"WHAT HAPPEN THIS TIME" he asked his good friend and underling MECHANIC.

"SOMEONE SET US UP THE BOMB AGAIN" he responded, a tear in his eye, his head filled with memories of times long past.

"WE GET ANOTHER SIGNAL" said OPERATOR, the second-in-command of the ZIG transporter.

"WHAT" CAPTAIN asked, feeling a certain level of Deja-Vu.

"SECONDARY SCREEN TURN ON" said OPERATOR, this broke any resemblance to "that day," as all the members of CAPTAIN's crew all knew that it was main screen that turn on last time.

An image of a large, blonde hair man popped up a smaller screen. He had on an sunglasses and was ripped beyond belief.

"Duke's coming back to town, and the last thing that's gonna go through your mind before you die... is my size 13 boot!"

"WHAT"

For a brief few seconds, a blonde woman in strange apparel ran on screen and whispered into the Duke's ear.

"Oh... Right, I forgot this universe is inhabited by the mentally challenged. Let me try that again: The Duke who returns again to the city, and the last thing that is going to happen through its spirit before they died... is my boot of size 13!"

"WHAT"

"For the love of my sweet Aunt Petunia... ALL YOUR PRISONER ARE BELONG TO US, YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY TO MY FOOT UP YOUR ASS. ERS."

"CAPTAIN !!" cried mechanic.

"TAKE OFF EVERY PRISONER !!"

Within minutes, the Zig turned over a CATS, the lovable android terrorist who was in stasis, to Duke.

"Thank you gentleman, it's been a pleasure," Duke grinned, as he pushed a large red button, causing CAPTAIN's ZIG carrier to implode, "That L-Block that powers this ship is made of win, I can't wait to win it from those huckleberries."

"Huckleberries?" giggled Lucretia.

"I mean, mother ers. ."

More Dust, and their ship was gone.

By ZenOfThunder


	10. Fox McCloud

**Prefic: And the Arwings come in the Niiiiiight!**

"Attacking the enemy assets?! Great idea, Fox!" came the colonels voice through the vid-screen.

"Wait, you didn't think of that yourself? How did you make Colonel?" Fox asked, finally fed up with the Colonel's vague orders.

But it was too late to berate the Colonel further, it was always the same: get a dumb word of advice from the Colonel, then Fox said something cool, and finally Fox and his wingmen would be launched to wherever they were supposed to attack. Today was Solar, the freaking sun. Why the hell would Andross put a base on a sun? Hell, why did he use a giant clam to attack Aquas? And why did he put blinking red points on all of his ships that screamed "shoot me?"

Shaking off these horrible, horrible thoughts, Fox took a minute to check his wingmen's status.

"All aircraft report. A little early today, wanna see how we're doing before we fly into the sun."

"Use the brakes!" came Peppy Hare's voice. Freaking rabbit...

"How's the Landmaster, Fox?" asked Slippy Toad. Fox wasn't even using the Landmaster! Freaking frog...

"Crud!" yelled Falco.

How the hell did these guys get through the Academy training? Heck, how did they get through elementary school?!

The Arwings flew down to Solar with incredible speed, soon slowing to skim the surface. When on Solar, the Arwings took constant damage, but for some reason his wingmen would only be damaged if they had their com-links open and were speaking. He had no idea what the logic in that was, in fact, this was a freaking sun! How the hell was it possible to even get close to it?

The Arwings flew in formation for a while until they spotted the first of Andross' ship: One of those spinning things that made a spiral around the Arwings while letting off some pretty white thread. What the hell was the point of them? Did Andross want to spice up their lives? It was almost impossible to hit them, though, so no worries.

"Your carcass is mine!" roared Slippy as he rammed into them, not once, not twice, but three times. There goes a quarter of your health, Slip! Fox smacked his head.

"Hold A to charge your laser," Slippy said as if he didn't just act like a complete moron.

"What the hell does that mean?" asked Fox. He glanced down to see a large green A button on dashboard. ...Huh. How long had that been there?

"I'm chargin' my laser!" he said as he held this newfound green button down. Soon several enemy turrets were right below them, ones that somehow don't melt when placed on the sun. "I'm firin' my laser!" said Fox as he let the green A button go, "Shoop da woop!" he cried as the laser burninated all of Solar's countryside. He didn't know what 'shoop da woop' meant, but he was compelled to say it.

After about five good minutes of pure owning, Fox came to the inevitable boss battle. A giant, golden aircraft with a large windshield rose up from behind some rocks. As expected, the main screen turned on so that Fox could be greeted by the soon-to-be-roasted boss.

Something was wrong this time. Instead of a monkey, it was something Fox had never seen before. He was fur-less, not like Slippy, he had a pale-grey complexion, and the only hair he had was a thick purple main of it that extended so high up that it went off the main screen.

"HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMAN," he said in all caps, "ALL YOUR FOX ARE BELONG TO US, YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY TO DESTRUCTION."

"What you say?!" Falco screamed at the strange creature.

"YOU HAVE NO TIME TO SURVIVE, MAKE YOUR CHANCE," the android laughed back, "HA HA HA HA..."

"Fox! Aim for his blinking red weakpoint!" Peppy yelled, taking the initiative for once.

"I don't see it!" Fox cried back.

"What?! Blasphemy! All of Andross' ships have a blinking red weakpoint! Just shoot it then!" Peppy commanded. Who died and made him leader? Fox decided this was good advice, however, so he started chargin' his laser and firin' his laser again.

"Do a barrel roll!" Peppy advised, "Aim for the open spot! The rudder port! Be careful, it might be a trap! Don't fly too low, your ship won't be able to take it! The shield is abosrbing your laser! Watch the radar carefully! Try a somersault!"

"I can't concentrate!" Fox snapped, "Shut up!"

"You're becoming more like your father."

"Fox!!!" Slippy yelled, even though Fox was in control of the situation.

"Kat, where did you go?!" Falco sobbed.

"Kat isn't here, you moron!" Fox yelled at the top of his lungs, "I can't take it anymore!"

"HA HA HA HA..." the boss laughed again. All of a sudden, two giant metal hands appeared on the right and left of his ship, and a tractor beam near the underside. Falco was caught in the beam, and Slippy and Falco were grabbed by the hands.

"Peppy! Falco!" Fox cried.

"Hey Fox, what about me?!" Slippy screamed.

"Let Peppy and Falco go, they've done nothing to you!" Fox ordered.

"Fox..." Slippy sobbed.

"Oh, and Slippy. He owes me five bucks."

"Hooray!" Slippy cheered.

All of a sudden, another hairless ape popped up on Fox's main screen, this time it was a woman with blonde hair.

"Hello, Mr. McCloud," she said, grinning ever-so-slightly.

"Who are you?!" Fox asked immediately.

"My name is Lucretia Merces,"

"Soon to be Lucretia Nukem!" came another voice from the behind Lucretia, Fox could make out the outline of a large, ripped man.

"I'll make you a deal," Lucretia continued, ignoring her lover(?), "You come with me, compete in a tournament, and I'll let your wingmen go. Deal?"

"Of course a deal! Peppy, tell ROB to take over for me while I'm gone. Falco, you're in charge. Slippy..." he stopped for a moment to think of what to say, "don't steal my Doritos, those are my ing Doritos."

"You got it, Fox!" Slippy smiled, happy to be mentioned for once.

"Let's go, you hairless apes." he growled. A door opened on the large ship, which Fox carefully flew into. The door shut behind him, leaving him in darkness. He heard a  
compartment open overhead, and though he saw some kind of dust or something falling from the ceiling, and then...

By ZenOfThunder


	11. Haseo

**Prefic: Haseo Who?**

Ryou Misaki sighed, taking off his headset. Another day gone, and still there were no leads on Tri-Edge. He cursed to himself; how the hell could this guy keep himself hidden so well? It was almost like he disappeared from the World entirely! Grumbling to himself, he started to get out of his chair when he was stopped by a sudden beeping from his PC; someone was sending him a message! Turning to the monitor, he paused before opening it; could it be from Ovan? Did his former guildmaster find out more information about the player who PK'd Shino into a coma?

Opening the mail merely generated disappointment for Ryou; it was from some player he had never heard of. Probably some noob asking for PK protection or revenge or something stupid like that. Like he could care less! They could level up and get their own revenge, as far as he was concerned. He was about to close the message when his eyes spotted something that immediately caught his interest.

"Attention, Mr. Terror of Death. You are searching for a certain someone, yes? I have some information you might find useful. Meet me at Delta: Hidden Forbidden Bulwark.

-Lucretia"

Information he might find useful...did this person know about Tri-Edge? He grabbed his headset without a second thought and jammed it on his face as The World started up again; if there was even the slightest chance that she knew anything at all about Tri-Edge...

---

Lucretia took in her surroundings; there were very few things in this world that impressed her, but that these people had been able to create such a beautiful landscape that one could interact with...she hated to admit it, but she was impressed. The landscape of the Morrigu Barrow Wall put some of the incredible views from her own world to shame; on one side, a massive ancient wall that stretched on to infinity, with moss and vines growing in patches, and on the other, separated by a river of clouds, a sea of trees that seemed to extend to the horizon. Truly, this World was a piece of art. Her thoughts were cut short when her quarry finally arrived through the Chaos Gate. Clad in his almost demonic-looking armor stood Haseo, the legendary Player Killer Killer known as the "Terror of Death." Smiling, she said, "Hello there, Mr. Terror of Death. It is a lovely day, wouldn't you-"

Haseo cut her off, growing impatient, "Cut the friendly act. I could hardly care about what you say that doesn't have to do with Tri-Edge." Offhand, Haseo wondered why she looked as if she didn't belong in the game; by all accounts, she appeared to be a Dance Macabre from the massive fan she carried. But there were a few things that were off about her; she was dressed in unfamiliar flowing robes, and she didn't have a Wave Tattoo anywhere on her body. Most likely, she was a hacker of some sort, which would make sense; hackers tended to know more things about both the game and the players in it than normal players did.

Lucretia merely smiled, hardly caring that the boy silenced her. "Very well, Mr. Terror of Death. Let's get down to business then, shall we? You are after a Player Killer known as Tri-Edge, one who put your dear friend Shino into a coma. His trademarks are his patchwork appearance and his azure flames." Ignoring Haseo's surprised look, she continued, "I have a proposition for you, Mr. Terror of Death. I work for a group of people who seek your cooperation in a little tournament they're putting together. A series of friendly matches with a wonderful prize for the winner."

Haseo growled; he should've known. Though she appeared to know plenty about Tri-Edge, either it was an act or she was tryng to bribe him. "So, basically, you want me to join this little tournament of yours as a publicity stunt, right? The great Terror of Death, taking part in a friendly fighting tournament in The World. Well, lady, I'm not interested in being a poster boy for your tournament and I'm not interested in your cheap items. Now tell me what you know about Tri-Edge!"

Lucretia chuckled, which merely provoked Haseo more; he was normally relatively patient with players, but this girl was making it tempting to be a PK instead of a PKK. Lucretia stopped her chuckling and said, "I think you misunderstand me, Mr. Terror of Death. Yes, it's a tournament. But it's not taking place in The World. And the reward isn't some item in the game; it's whatever you desire. Why, you could get Shino back, destroy Tri-Edge, and reform the Twilight Brigade. Are you interested?"

Haseo blinked; this lady HAD to be crazy! "If it's not taking place in The World, why contact me? I'm not much of a fighter in the real world."

Lucretia kept her Chesire smile plastered on her face, "Oh, I'm well aware of that, Ryou Misaki. That's the reason I contacted you in The World; as Haseo, you stand a much better chance of surviving. Now, if you're interested..."

Haseo hated to admit it, but he _was_ interested. If he could win...he could have Shino back and make everything the way it was before Tri-Edge came. _It's just like the Forest of Pain_, he thought to himself, _Go through a really difficult challenge and get an incredible prize. And hell, I beat the Forest when people said it was impossible. What's to stop me from winning this tournament?_ His mind was made up. But there was still one thing that bothered him..."Hey, lady. You said you contacted me here because my character could win. But how's that going to help me if I can't be Haseo when I'm not logged into The World?"

Lucretia merely pulled out a small pouch from her robes. "Trust me, Mr. Terror of Death," she said, removing some strange-looking dust, "That won't be a problem." Before Haseo could question what she was doing, the dust covered the two. And then they were gone.

By Twilight the Fox (Guest, nobody on our team knew who Haseo was.)


	12. Guybrush, Lara, Kerrigan

**Prefic: Of Women and Men**

"I'm a Pirate"

As long as he kept saying it to himself, he figured that it would come true. Maybe. Kind of. Sort of? Okay probably not. But as long as he said it, someone might believe him. If they're really gullible or something. Guybrush Threepwood certainly didn't look the part. He could hold his breath for ten minutes though. That's quite impressive, though it's not really a pirate feat, and more of a water dwelling feat.

"I'm a Pirate!" He said, with more force this time. Not that it was very much force this time either. He had said it almost meekly.

"Of course you are." A womans voice said from behind him. A woman! Of the female variety! A female woman! It was his lucky day. Or maybe it wasn't...

Guybrush quickly turned around. He tried to look suave as possible, in which it is meant that he looked pretty stupid. He decided that he'd try a pick up line that he'd heard in the bar earlier. "I wouldn't mind being locked up in Davy Jones Locker with you!" he said.

Lucretia resisted her desire to face palm herself. It was amazing how useless that the legendary Guybrush Threepwood was. Sure he could insult sword fight with the best of them, which really isn't saying much, and he could hold his breath for a very long time. But other than that, there wasn't really much use. But he was the next contestant on her list, and she was required to bring him back.

"Since you are a very brave Pirate," Lucretia began. "You would probably be very interested in the information I have"

"Very. Probably." Guybrush said, trying to impress her.

"There is a huge tournament being hosted, with people from all across the multiverse. I think a strong pirate like you should join."

"I'll pass thanks." Guybrush said.

"But you're a pirate aren't you? The Pirate Code says you can never turn down a request for a lady"

It didn't.

"Yes. Yes. I suppose it does."

Really, it didn't.

"Then I suppose you'll have to come with me".

He didn't.

"Very well. I guess I will then. Yes."

And thus he followed her, trying to uphold the pirate code that wasn't really pirate code. But so long as nobody tells him, it should be alright? Probably.

Lucretia threw dust on the both of them, and transported the two of them to a strange looking ruin. She could've probably sent Guybrush back, but she didn't want him running away. Yet. Standing in front of the ruins was a very beautiful, very busty woman. Lara Croft, the next participant in the tournament.

"Excuse me, Ms. Croft" Lucretia said. "I'm here to invite you to a tournament of one hundred twenty eight participants from across the multiverse".

Lucretia was trying to convince Lara to come, without having to resort to other tactics. Meanwhile Guybrush gulped upon hearing the total number of participants. This wasn't brought up in the contract! Well, there was no contract. But if there was one, he'd be sure it wasn't on there. Because this was the first he had heard about it.

"Yeah, not interested" Lara said nonchalantly.

Guybrush meanwhile was very interested. In Lara. Well not so much Lara, as her breasts. They were just sitting there, begging him, well not so much begging him because they couldn't talk, to stare at them. Lara wasn't happy at this development either. Guybrush on the other hand was very glad Lara was extremely developed.

"Don't stare at my breasts." Lara said.

"Maybe if they weren't so large." Guybrush said.

Lucretia smiled, remembering exactly why she brought Guybrush.

Lara had to restrain herself from killing the strange man in front of her. But it wasn't an easy task.

"They're just... can I touch them?"

"No!" Lara shouted.

"Please? Just for a moment. I want to see how they feel."

"You're going to feel my foot, kicking your groin in a moment, Mister..."

"Threepwood. Guybrush Threepwood. I can hold my breath for ten minutes you know."

"Guybrush."

"Now about that foot to groin thing. Can we negotiate it to a punch?"

Lucretia interrupted, before Lara started blowing Guybrush's brains out. "If you join our tournament, you'll have the chance to beat the living daylights out of him".

"I'll do it." Lara said, with no question in her voice.

"Wonderful." Guybrush said. "Wait a minute!" He said, but didn't get to finish as Lucretia whisked them away to another land.

This time it was outer space. Lara was excited to be there. Guybrush was scared. And Lucretia was unhappy that Guybrush could hold his breath for ten minutes now. Because if she wanted to actually kill him, he'd live for ten minutes. Of course that might change given the events that took place in the next couple seconds.

"I AM QUEEN of the universe!" the rough voice of a woman said.

"That sounds nice" Guybrush said, with no certainty.

"Don't tell me we're inviting this drama queen" Lara said.

With that, Lucretia regretted bringing Lara along. But she knew she made the right choice. She always did.

Sarah Kerrigan turned around, and gave a very threatening look towards Lara. "Oh look, if it isn't Self Defense Barbie! Ohh and look, she has a little gun!"

Lara quickly pointed said gun towards Kerrigan. Sarah merely smiled.

"You got all boobs, and no brains ."

"You're lacking both." Lara told her.

"Now, Now Girls. Settle down. We wouldn't want to get everyone killed before the tournament begins." Lucretia said.

"No. Of course not. Dying is bad." Guybrush piped in, as he hadn't said anything in a while.

"Who asked you?" Sarah asked.

"Oh right. I suppose I shouldn't invite you to a tournament of the most powerful beings in the multiverse. I mean you probably wouldn't get very far." Lucretia taunted.

"Don't tempt me to send hordes of my army to kill you, "

"I've taken on larger armies that you have, without any soldiers before."

"Then you must be more powerful than you look, "

"Power lies within the brain, not within the body. With the right strategy, you can win everytime. But I suppose you wouldn't know anything of that concept. Especially since you're willing to turn this tournament down. A tournament where you could eliminate any potential competition in becoming ruler of the universe."

Kerrigan thought for a moment. She could probably kill this woman here and now. But even so, the thought of the tournament was tempting. She needed a challenge. Everyone here was just worthless. She hungered for a challenge.

"Fine, I'll do it ". She said.

"Good" Lucretia said, pulling Travel Dust from the pouch.

"Yes. Good. Good. Now we'll have two homicidal maniacs, and a pirate. In the tournament that is. Yes." Guybrush said, mumbling almost.

"Of course Mr. Threepwood. Now let's be leaving" and Lucretia threw up the dust, and returned the three to the castle. Another job well done.

By Cloud and Squall


	13. Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth

**Prefic: Objection!**

There's something not right about that testimony. Phoenix said, leafing through his papers frantically. I just can't seem to remember…oh, hell, where is it? Why hadn't he brought out his copy of The Laws And Regulations Covering Breakfast Bondiments before he yelled "HOLD IT!"? Now the judge was staring at him balefully, deeply resenting the fact that Phoenix had woken him from his afternoon snooze. The audience in the courtroom were muttering to one another, and shooting him dark looks. Clearly, they thought he was wasting their time, prolonging the trial even longer than was necessary. No-one else cared whether or not the proprietor of Pernicious Pete's Pancake Palace was fined for under-syruping his pancakes, Phoenix realised, and this annoyed him. Justice should matter, in all cases, and not just in murder trials. Justice should be sought in all cases, even the ones that were-well, for lack of a better word, were completely trivial. He finally struck upon the goldenrod document he was looking for, and breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Mr Pearslief, you claim in your statement that, having siphoned all the syrup on your pancakes into a small jug, you then measured the total volume as 85 ml, correct?"

"That is correct". The titanic blob of a man behind the witness stand wheezed.

"And you were being served four pancakes?"

"In that serving, yes." Jim Pearslief responded, belching loudly. Phoenix winced, but continued anyway.

"Did you know that, in this country, there is a minimum legal amount of syrup that restaurant proprietors can serve with their breakfast products?"

"Erm, that is to say, erm, no." Pearslief responded, wobbling nervously.

"Is that true Mr Wright?" The Judge asked, wide-eyed.

Phoenix nodded violently. "Absolutely, your honour. These rules were set down by the government so that men like the witness would be unable to take advantage of innocent chefs like my client."

"3 day trials, statutes of limitations that change by the month; what an illogical and counter-intuitive legal system we have." The Judge grumbled. "Very well, Mr Wright! Please inform the court what the legal minimum amount of syrup per pancake that is required by law."

"15 mls of syrup per pancake." Phoenix slammed both hands down on the surface before him, then took up his favourite pose; the accusatory point. "So as a matter of fact, you had enough for an entire extra pancake! This man's claim of under-syruping is false in the eyes of the law!" As Pearslief suffered three simultaneous heart-attacks, crushing the witness stand as he collapsed, Phoenix planted both hands on his hips smugly. "How do you respond to that, Mr Pearslief? Or should I say; Mr Pancake thief!"

"I'm fairly sure he's unconscious, Mr Wright, and therefore cannot hear you." The Judge said, reaching for his trusty gavel. Nevertheless, in light of the evidence presented to us, I find the defendant-"

"OBJECTION!"

Edgeworth felt he had earned the right to begin pointing at Phoenix condescendingly, so he did so. On the other side of the courtroom, Phoenix began sweating profusely. This wouldn't end well.

"An entertaining tale, Wright, but perhaps you should invest in a pair of reading glasses."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Phoenix stammered.

"If you check your copy of TLARCBB again, you'll notice that the amount you've just referenced refers specifically to a specific kind of syrup; maple syrup, you'll note." Edgeworth tapped the document in the requisite place, completely ignoring the fact that no-one else but him would be able to see where he was pointing. "By your client's own admission, the syrup he serves at his Pancake Palace is not maple, but table, the limits for which are higher than they are for maple; specifically, 30ml per pancake." Edgeworth bowed, putting as much condescension into that simple action as was physically possible. "Although it was a sterling effort on your part, I'm sure."

"Er-um-er-ah-" Phoenix mouthed uselessly, trying to get his bearings. He'd dug his own grave, and was now being wrong-footed into it. He was, in a word, stuffed.

"Excuse me, your honour?"

A blonde women had risen from the audience, and was approaching the judge's stand. The audience started muttering loudly as she did so, necessitating the repeated gavel-banging that the judge loved so much.

"Order! Order! Can I help you, young lady?" He asked, as the woman stopped a few feet away from the stand.

"If it's not too much trouble, I need a quick word with the defense and prosecution counsels, together if possible."

"Well, court is now in sessions, and this is probably highly illegal, but I see no harm in that." The Judge smiled. "Mr Wright! Mr Edgeworth! You will accompany this young lady outside the court for a "quick word"."

Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief. If he had a couple of seconds to get his thoughts in order, he could mount a defense…somehow…He followed the woman out of the courtroom, noting with satisfaction that Edgeworth looked thoroughly put out. The woman closed the door behind them, and turned to face the two men. She looked them both up and down, seeming to study them.

"Ahem." Edgeworth cleared his throat, clearly eager to get back into court and continue stitching up his opponent.

"I really don't know what they're thinking." She sighed, reaching into a small bag. "Ah well." She got them both simultaneously with a handful of travelling dust, sending them spinning off to a place where pancake syrup would be the very least of their worries.

By TurnTurnTurn


	14. Arthas, Thrall

**Prefic: The King and the Warchief**

At one point in his life, Arthas would have called himself a paladin.. He would have said that he stood for justice and what was right. He loved, he laughed, he learned; he tried to live his life as an example to others, always following the Paladin Code, hoping to inspire people to become better, and fight those that clung to what he saw as evil. In short, he would have called himself a good human being.

What a fool he had been.

Now, though, his eyes were open; he knew how foolish such concepts were. All that mattered was power. The power to take what was his, the power to crush all those who opposed him, and, of course, the power to serve his master, Ner'zhul. He had been the greatest of the Lich King's Death Knights, and eventually he had been able to do him the greatest service. Arthas had saved his master, and now they were one, spirits entwined on their icy throne in Northrend.

Sitting atop the throne, they reached out their mind, using their power to check on the Scourge, the soldiers of their army. Images flashed past their eyes in rapid succession: a paladin was being ambushed by a host of ghouls; a party of adventurers were doing battle with an abomination; his lieutenant, Kel'Thuzad, was dispatching a group of paladins; an orcish shaman called upon the forces of elements against rapidly advancing gargoyles; a blood elf exploded with arcane power, fighting off crypt fiends; thousands upon thousands of similar encounters went though their mind, and they took all of them in. Things were going slowly, but they were still going well. This world could not hold out forever.

"Quite proud of your Scourge, aren't you?"

Arthas and Ner'zhul snapped their focus back to Northrend. There was a blonde woman dressed in colorful robes standing in front of them. How did she get past the host of creatures guarding them? And how did she somehow escape their notice? They were powerful enough to sense people in far-off continents, let alone directly in front of them. They picked up their sword, Frostmourne, and prepared to strike down this insolent woman.

"Go ahead," she said, a smug look on her face, "stand up. Strike me down with the power of your blade."

They found it curious that she would want them to show their power to her, but they did not object. Arthas stood up. And that's where everything went wrong.

Suddenly, everything seemed much more...closed. Arthas could no longer sense what was happening in the far reaches of the world. His power seemed diminished, and his senses were limited to working in the frozen wasteland around him. His mind felt somehow clearer as well, as if he had been under some power from which he had been freed. Puzzled, he momentarily forgot about the mysterious woman, and turned back to his throne.

The armor of his master, which contained Ner'zhul's spirit, lay neatly on the seat of the throne.

"What did you do to my master?!" shouted Arthas, anger and panic mingling in his voice. He brandished Frostmourne threateningly, making it clear that an answer to that question was the only reason he did not strike her down now.

"Don't worry," she stated reassuringly, though she rater ruined the effect by smiling, "I merely...disentangled your spirits. It's you I want to talk to, after all. His spirit is quite safe and will remain there until you re-don that armor."

"Very well then," Arthas said, his tone returning to its usual coldness. He seemed content for a moment, but then suddenly lunged forward with Frostmourne, striking as if to plunge the sword into the woman's heart. She dodged to the side almost before he even attacked, easily escaping the blow.

"That's not very friendly, Arthas," she said, wagging her finger reprovingly. "I would have thought you would want an opportunity for so much power, but it seems I was wrong."

At this, the woman turned around and began walking towards the long spiral ramp that was the only way down. Arthas had been poised to attack again, but froze when he heard what she said. He watched her walk away for a few moments, until she was just about to start walking down the ramp. Before she set foot on it, he called out to her.

"Wait."

Arthas thought he saw a look of triumph on her face for a moment. However, the curious expression she wore a split second later was so convincing that he was sure he had just imagined it.

"...what's this about an opportunity for power?"

The woman smiled. "I have come to invite you to a tournament of some of the multiverse's finest fighters. You will stay on a special world prepared especially for this tournament, and fight against competitors from other dimensions for the right to claim an ultimate power."

Arthas let this sink in for a minute, resting his chin in his hand. "If this is true, why separate me from my master? We are perfectly capable of operating as one."

"Because the invitation was for you, Arthas Menethil, not for Ner'zhul the Lich King."

That made sense. Besides, he did not need the power of his master to defeat the competition. Alone, he was still Arthas, the greatest of the Death Knights, and no mere man could possibly stand in his way.

"I will join, then," he said, sheathing Frostmourne.

"Good," she replied, pulling a small bag out of her robes. "Now, we need to make one more stop here before we leave. It is very important that you do exactly as I say. If you see those you regard as enemies, do not strike them down; stay at my side and do only what I tell you to. Understand?"

Arthas glowered at her for a few moments, clearly angry over being told what to do. However, for once he actually swallowed his pride, not wanting to miss out on this tournament, or to anger a woman who had managed to separate him and his master (though he would never admit the latter).

"Very well."

The woman did not respond, but simply smiled. She pulled out some dust from the bag, and then spread it over both of them.

--

"...and they swarmed all over my caravan, I was lucky to get out of there with my life! Those humans are not to be trusted, Warchief!"

Thrall struggled to keep the exasperation out of his face. He was sitting in Grommash Hold, running his administrative duties as Leader and Warchief of the Horde. At that moment, he was listening to the story of an orcish merchant, telling how he had been attacked by a group of humans on his way to deliver goods. The way he told it, he made it seem like the attack was a full-scale assault on Orgrimmar itself.

"From your description, it seems like they were nothing more than bandits out to steal the goods you were transporting," said Thrall when the man finished. "I will send soldiers to the area to flush out the bandits and bring them to justice."

The man looked a little put-out, but he left all the same. Once he was gone, Thrall sighed heavily, leaning back in his throne. He supported his face with his hand, keeping his eyes closed. After a little while, he turned to his two advisors, the orc Eitrigg and the leader of the trolls, Vol'jin.

"Sometimes I fear that my people will never be able to co-exist with the humans. Hardly a day goes by without someone coming to tell me of unjust attacks upon my kind, or to tell thinly-veiled stories of their own aggression against humans. I know it is both of us who are at fault, but that does not improve the situation."

He rested his head against his hand again, letting loose another sigh.

"Don't worry, be happy," said Vol'jin, putting a hand on Thrall's shoulder. "These sorts of things take time. There's been a lot of hate between us Horde and the Alliance over the years, and people aren't so quick to forget that. But with leaders like you and Lady Jaina, eventually we're all gonna realize that the other side ain't so bad."

"You're right, of course," replied Thrall, a rueful smile on his face. "It can just become frustrating waiting for that to happen. But for now, I have duties to perform, as do you two. We should all be getting to them."

Eitrigg and Vol'jin nodded, then left Thrall's chambers. Thrall made to stand up, but suddenly his body felt extremely weak. He realized then that he was very tired, and was incredibly dizzy. Trying to shake off these unusual feelings, he went to stand up, but then was hit hard with a heavy object in the back of his head. Already dizzy and weak, he fell back into his chair and blacked out.

Arthas sheathed Frostmourne again, having just hit Thrall with the flat of the blade.

"Good work," said Lucretia, examining the unconscious Thrall. "Though it took quite some time for you to sufficiently sap his strength.

Arthas shot Lucretia a dirty look, obviously resenting her criticism of his work. "Orcs are naturally quite strong of body, and this one is unusually strong in spirit. If I had tried much harder, I could have broken him completely and killed him. And you told me to avoid that." He punctuated the last sentence with another nasty look.

"Quite," Lucretia said, smiling at his unpleasant expression. "Now, we've spent enough time here, so let's be off."

As soon as she finished, she threw more of the strange dust over herself, Arthas, and Thrall. And then all three were gone.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	15. Frank West

**Prefic: Thriller**

"...Oh noes, the Zombies are going to get me. Help." Lucretia cried for the eighteenth time. "Damn, those Elite Beat Agents came so fast. I was expecting all the people I cried to for help to come just as quickly. I guess we can't always be lucky..."

She observed the zombies that had surrounded the covering of a park bench that she sat on. These living dead weren't exactly smart, and they just gathered around and kind of made a bit of an attempt to reach her (sort of.) Lucretia figured she would get attacked by zombies and wait for Frank West to show up. She had no idea what the next step would be, but the one after that was definitely profit.

All of a sudden, Lucretia heard a bit of a "rumble rumble rumble," then a "vrrrrrrrm,"then an "eeeeeiiiiiii" and then "wryyyyyyyyy." She looked behind her to find a man in a dark brown leather jacket pushing a lawn mower through the sea of zombies.

"Hang on, pretty lady! I'm coming!" he yelled up at her. The zombies seemed to run into the lawn mower instead of trying to avoid it. They must have had horrible AI.

A few minutes later, Frank was on top of the thing that keeps park benches in the shade, and offered a hand to Lucretia, who got up and brushed off her dress.

"Frank West," he smiled as he held out his hand, "Photojournalist. I've covered..."

"Wars, I know," Lucretia finished.

"Gasp! How did you know?!"

"I know everything about you, and if you want an even bigger scoop than zombies-"

"BIGGER THAN ZOMBIES?!"

"Yes, bigger than zombies."

"You mean pirate ninjas?!"

"...No."

"Oh, damn. Well, what is it?"

Lucretia, a bit irked at this person's stupidity, continued the sentence she should have finished a minute ago. "A tournament. 128 people. You fight. You can take pictures, report on it, whatever. Then we drop you off back here, you can take more pictures of zombies. Then you have two huge scoops! You'll be twice as famous!"

"OK."

"...That's it? No arguing? I planned for you being unsure."

"No, I wanna go." He pulled out a pad and pencil, the pad had "LIST OF THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE" scrawled on top of it. "Cover wars... Check... Kill 53,594 zombies... Check... Compete in tournament of 128 warriors from all over the multiverse... Check. All I have to do now is get laid. You game?"

"...No, thanks."

"Kay, then let's go."

And then there was Dust.

By (Hyper) ZenOfThunder


	16. Lloyd, Kratos A, Zelos, Pyramid Head

**Prefic: Whatever will be, will be.**

Zelos Wilder gently pushed on the manhole, opening it as softly as possible as to not make a sound. He carefully crawled up the ladder and out of the hole in the ground, then gently replaced the manhole. Zelos smiled, then took a deep breath, clearing out his nostrils. The sewers of Meltokio weren't the most pleasant place to travel through, but they allowed him to get back inside the city after dark, when the gates were closed.

Zelos stretched while he slowly walked back toward his mansion in Upper Meltiokio, savoring the moment. It had been another fun night of entertaining his hunnies while Sheena was away. She had been staying in Meltokio until recently, as an ambassador of Mizuho, and it was impossible to have fun while she was around, trying to act like his conscience.

As he crossed through the main plaza of the town, where the entrances to the shops were, he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to look at an alley off to the side, where a girl stood. She looked at him directly at his eyes, smiled and winked, then slowly strolled back into the alley. Zelos stood there, unsure of what to do. She wasn't the best he'd seen, but she wasn't bad either, and he had never been picky. He shrugged in acceptance, and then walked into the alley.

The girl was still smiling at him when he entered it. He waited a few seconds, then smiled back. "Now then," Zelos began as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the girl. "Why don't you tell me what you really want?" Zelos heard a faint sound behind him, and he whirled around just in time to deflect an attack from Kratos Aurion.

"Kratos," the girl started. "I told you to knock him out. Nothing that might kill him." Kratos normally stony face became slightly…what was it? Embarrassed? It was hard to tell with him. "I apologize, Lucretia. I thought he was going to attack you." Lucretia shook her head. "No, he was just being cautious. He surprised me; I thought you said he was a bumbling womanizer, but he knew something was wrong the moment he stepped in." Zelos had heard enough. "Hey! Don't go talking about me like I'm not here. I'm very sensitive, you know." Lucretia stepped forward, seeming a bit curious. "How did you know something was wrong?"

Keeping on an eye on both Kratos and Lucretia – although for some reason he felt she was the bigger threat – Zelos started to explain in a boastful voice. "I may be great, handsome, stupendous and other things, but no normal girl propositions you in the middle of the night in a dark alley. Your clothes are also like nothing I've ever seen before. Lastly, when I got close, you were still smiling. I reek of the Meltokio sewers! No one would have kept smiling unless they had something else on their mind." Lucretia nodded, as if she were taking mental notes. "Well then, Mr. Wilder, I'll explain what we want from you. This is a tournament about to take place, with 128 fighters from all over-"

"Will there be hunnies?" Zelos interrupted. Put off for a second, Lucretia regained her composure. "Hunnies…oh, girls. Yes, there will be." Zelos grinned. "I'm in."

Lucretia glanced at Kratos, and they both shrugged. "Kratos has also agreed to join." Zelos looked at Kratos, arching an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be in space? How did you get back here? And why would you join?" Kratos' facial expression didn't change at all. "I have my reasons." Zelos sighed, knowing that was all he would get from the angel. "I suppose you need Lloyd too? He is the big hero around these parts. You want him all you need to do is go to him, tell him about the tournament, and say that you have Kratos. Don't bring Kratos, and leave it vague. He'll get worried and agree to come simply to see if Kratos is okay." Lucretia looked mildly surprised. "We have already visitied Lloyd Irving, and that is exactly what I did to get him to come. You are smarter than you seem." She turned to Kratos. "You've done your part. Go wait at the site." Kratos nodded. Lucretia took out a small leather pouch, took some dust out of it, and sprinkled it over Kratos' head. Kratos disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

"We are going somewhere else first." Lucretia stated, grabbing some more dust out of the pouch. "Oh ho ho! So you have need of the great Zelos? What do you need me to do, slay a dragon, scale a tower?" Lucretia didn't say a word. Zelos sighed. "You guys all need to lighten up a little bit." Lucretia grabbed his arm, then sprinkled some dust over her head.

He was in a hallway. If it could be called that; the floor was a rusted metal grating, the walls were rotted an orange color, most of the locks on the doors seemed broken, what little light there was seemed distorted and dying, and screams could be heard in the distance. Lucretia gave a small grin. "Welcome to Silent Hill. The competitor we are looking for here is drawn to those who keep their insecurities hidden inside themselves, which is why I needed you." Zelos was too busy wondering how any of the fighters in the tournament could possibly live here, that it took him a few seconds before he realized he had been insulted. "Hey!" he began, but was then cut short by a scraping sound coming from behind him.

He turned around, and a monstrosity slowly stepped out of the darkness and into the feeble light. It wore nothing but a but an apron-like cloth over the bottom half of its body, and a gigantic, metallic pyramid on it's head, that a normal person couldn't have worn without having their spine broken by the pressure it would have exerted on them. Blood spatters were on its apron and body, and it held what could only be descried as a huge butcher's knife. It moved slowly, and Zelos felt he could have easily defeated the thing, but as he stared at it, he felt fear. Fear that seemed to well up from the farthest reaches of his mind, as if he was staring at everything that could possibly make him afraid at the same time.

Lucretia stepped forward, and while she retained here stoic demeanor, Zelos noted that she seemed to be trembling slightly. She stared directly at the thing, and it stared back, until the thing dipped its head forward slightly, as if in understanding. Lucretia pulled out some dust from her pouch and quickly threw it onto the thing. The moment it disappeared Zelos instantly felt more at ease, but not by much. They both stood their in silence for a few moments, before Zelos asked "Is that it?", unable to keep the hope out of his voice. Lucretia nodded. "Yes, that's all I can take for now." As she grabbed more dust from the pouch, Zelos could only wonder if there were horrors even worse out there than the pyramid-headed thing, and wondering what he had gotten himself into.

by KamikazePotato


	17. Wander

**Prefic: Attack its Weakpoint for Massive Damage  
**

It was a land that could have been mistaken for paradise. There were vast, beautiful plains. There were mountains that reached into the sky. There were vast waterfalls that dropped water in lakes that glimmered in the sunset. There were underground temples, with ancient carvings and constructs. The land had everything paradise would have had, except for one thing.

Life.

There was no life. The land was cursed, cursed so that no life could ever thrive on it. Lizards could be seen on rare occasions, birds if you were really lucky, but besides those meager things, there was no life except for that of the ancient god Dormin and the dreaded monstrosities known as Colossi.

Wander approached one such Colossus, his sword drawn and lifted into the air. A beacon of light shone from the sword, and as Wander moved the sword around, the light grow smaller and more focused until it centered on one part of the Colossus. It's weak point.

The Colossus regarded Wander with curious indifference. Wander had no idea if the thing was sentient or not, but he still ended up acting out the creature's thoughts in his head. It wouldn't care when he was circling around the gigantic stone monster, looking for an opening. Perhaps it would become annoyed he climbed up the sections of the Colossus that had fur on it, but not worried; he was still only an ant. Only when he reached the weak point and stabbed it with the holy sword would it begin to realize what was about to happen, would it realize the danger it was in, and by then it was too late. Wander stabbed the weak spot again and again, ignoring the black blood that burst out, until finally the creature let out a great groan, and then sank to the floor, motionless.

Perhaps Wander should have felt someone watching him during the ordeal, but his short time in the barren land had already caused him to forget that feeling. A woman approached him after the battle, speaking to him in a language he did not understand. While the words eluded him, he understood the intent. Wander shook his head. Whatever the woman wanted from him, it would take him away from his love. He would not abandon her for anything. Black tendrils snaked out of the colossus and into Wander, repeating the strange process that happened after each one fell. Wander collapsed and lost consciousness and was transported back to the temple at the entrance to the dead land, leaving the mysterious woman behind.

He gave no more thought to her as he searched out the next colossus. She was unimportant; there were only him and the colossi. When they were dead, his love would be alive again. That was all that mattered. The process repeated, he found himself on top of a gigantic, frantic beast as he plunged the holy sword into it. Wander vaguely realized that his emotions were beginning to dull with each colossus defeated, but he didn't care. He would trade away everything to see Mono breathe again. As he dealt the final blow to the beast, he braced himself for the impact it would make when it fell, clutching the fur. Then suddenly the mysterious woman was next to him. Stunned by her appearance, he had no time to react as she gave him a violent shove, and he fell dozens of feet to the ground.

Wander was unable to move, his consciousness fading rapidly. His bones were not broken; he never seemed to suffer major injuries like that when he fell, but his body still ached. The colossus was still in the process of dying; the black tendrils had not appeared yet. As his sight dimmed, the last thing he saw was the mysterious woman standing above him, reaching into a pouch.

By KamikazePotato


	18. Prince of All Cosmos

**Prefic: Katamari on the Rock**

"So

hey

Prince

I

have

a

life

changing

opportunity

for

you.

Stop

rolling

this

ball

so

I

can

speak "

The Prince of All Cosmos, intrigued, stopped his perpetual rolling to hear out the beautiful blonde woman he had picked up. She didn't scream like the other humans, who all knew that they were seconds away from being turned into stardust.

"Young Prince..." she smiled, "You are so strong What a large katamari you have. I bet your father is so proud."

The Prince lowered his head and gave a shake. He was nowhere near the level of his father, or the size.

"No? I'm shocked. I would be so proud if I was your mother."

The Prince's head stayed fixated on the ground.

"Not much of a talker, are you? I'll tell you what, young Prince. I can help you become just as big, and just as magnificent as your father He'll be so proud."

The small, green alien looked up at his beautiful star material, surely she would make one of epic proportions, but if what she said was true... He gave a nod, his expression unchanging.

"Oh, good. Then hold on..." Lucretia, her arms unstuck from the katamari, reached into her pocket and pulled out a bag of travel dust and some tweezers. She took a few grains and placed them on the Prince's head, who vanished on the spot.

By ZenOfThunder (Who isn't happy how short this was, as Katamari is his favorite game ever.)


	19. Captain Falcon

**Prefic: Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart**

"Captain Falcon, winner of the F-Zero Grand-Prix 2560, now brings you his own brand of nipple buttons! That's right, the latest, greatest fashion statement of 2560 is now availible with the Falcon name in 2571! Gets yours today!"

Falcon threw his bowel of popcorn at the television. Why had he agreed to lend his name to a brand of nipple buttons? Who the hell wore them nowadays? Still, it was good money, which he needed...

He grabbed his coat and helmet and walked out the screen door to his trailer, and drove his junker of a car to work. It broke down halfway there, so he ran. He may have been old and unemployed, but he was still in peak shape.

Falcon arrived at S-Mart only 5 minutes late, but was still chewed out by his boss.

"Falcon, I don't care how much of a star you used to be! You still work for me, and that mean you can't be late!" he yelled.

"Yes, Mr. Campbell..." Falcon moaned. He slipped on his vest and helmet (which he wore as much as possible to remind him of his old days; his boss didn't mind, it attracted customers). He began ringing up customers: crazy cat ladies, pregnant teens, lizard-men... What had his life become? He was once the star of the F-Zero Grand Prix, but ever since that accident so many years ago, he wouldn't dare to step into a race car again.

"Oh, you're that Falcon person, aren't you?" said the beautiful blonde woman who had walked up to the register. She was wearing a strange dress, but Falcon had seen much stranger. She was carrying some useless nicknacks, batteries, plasma cannon, a thong...

"Yeah, that's me." he grunted.

"Oh, can you show me your moves?"

"Huh?" a typical request, but he never heard it phrased that way.

"Yeah, you're one of those bounty hunters, right? Show off a bit for me," she asked again, a gleam in her eyes.

"Attention register 8," came the loudspeaker "Do it, or you're fired."

"Ugh... Well, here I go." Falcon moaned. It couldn't hurt; it was early and nobody else was on the line. He jumped over the counter and did some cartwheels. Some of the customers applauded. He began to punch the air, a few jabs, then a flurry of punches. He did a bit of breakdancing as that was always a crowd pleaser, and decided to finish off with a bang. He drew his arm back.

"Falcon..." he said as his arm began to glow, "PUNCH!"

Falcon's arm exploded in a firestorm shaped like a falcon. There was a shriek as if the bird was there with them. The crowd cheered harder than ever, and Falcon bowed. It was just like those days, before his hair started to gray and his face began to wrinkle.

Falcon jumped over the counter and asked the woman, "Was the enough for you?"

"Yes, that was wonderful. You haven't lost your touch."

"Thanks. That'll be $20.78, ma'am."

"How would you like to relive those glory days?" she asked slyly.

"...Excuse me?" Falcon asked, befuddled.

"I know you love that rush you get when you're in the limelight, the rush you just got when the crazy cat ladies cheered for you just now. How would you like an entire universe cheering next time?"

"...I'm sorry, ma'am. No time for chitchat. $20.78, please."

"I know you're listening. Just come with me, quit this job, and relive the glory days. No racing involved."

Falcon sighed. If what she said was true, then he would finally be able to have his day again, and not have to race. But he had a good job, a nice trailer...

"Falcon! Get a move on!" came the voice from the loudspeaker, "You worthless piece of trash!"

...and a real son of a boss. Falcon jumped onto the counter and then jumped over the loudspeaker, turned around, and yelled "FALCON KICK!" Soon nothing was left but a smoking pile of whatever the speaker was made of.

"Let's get out of here," he told the woman. There was a sprinkle of dust, a gasp from the line that had formed behind the woman, and soon there was nothing on the ground but Falcon's old S-Mart vest.

By ZenOfThunder


	20. Nightmare

**Prefic: A Soul's Worst Nightmare**

Lucretia glanced down at the list she held in her hands. 128 challengers to gather...a daunting task. Still, she knew that she was fully up to this assignment, and felt confident she could gather all of them well within the time she had been given. For now, it would be best if she focused on making sure that number dwindled quickly. Scanning the list, she found a name that interested her.

"Nightmare - Murderous, corrupted knight. Consumes souls."

Lucretia smiled. Based upon that description, and what she already knew about Nightmare, he would be one of the more challenging people to collect. But she knew exactly how to get his attention, and how to convince him to participate. In fact, it would be rather easy. Nightmare was, after all, a rather simple person; consumption of souls was all that he ever thought about. Thinking it best to get him over with soon, she pinched up some of her Travel Dust from the bag she kept in her cloak, then sprinkled it over her head, still wearing that smile.

--

Nightmare stood on a small hill, brandishing his massive sword, Soul Edge. An army of soldiers had been dispatched to deal with the Azure Knight, and now they stood before him, poised to attack. Nightmare, however, showed no signs of fear or nervousness; he knew better than to fear these pathetic mortals. In fact, several of the soldiers were visibly trembling, clearly horrified by the man in front of them. His thick blue armor was an imposing sight, covering him from head to toe, but far more disturbing was what they could see underneath it. One of his arms was massive and horribly disfigured, looking more like an evil, leafless tree than a human appendage. His sword was almost as large as a person, and seemed to be made of the same substance as his arm, with a large eye in the center. It pulsated slightly, almost as if it were...alive. And his eyes...his eyes were a dark crimson, the same color as blood, and the look with which he surveyed them did little to calm their nerves.

The commander, however, was a different story. He stood in front of them all, defiantly looking up at Nightmare, his face a determined stare. For several minutes, the only movements were the trembling of the soldiers, trying (and failing) to steel themselves for the coming battle. After what seemed like an eternity, however, the commander drew his sword. Pointing it straight at the blue-armored monstrosity, he shouted "CHARGE!"

The army moved as one as they all sprang into action, running full-force at Nightmare. He did not move, though; he continued to stand there, still eyeing all of them hungrily. The commander was a little bit ahead of his troops, fearlessly charging forward. Now he was only a few feet from the beast, so close to beginning the assault that would finally end the Azure Knight's reign of terror...

All of these hopes went to ruin as the sickening sound of metal slicing through metal and then human flesh rang across the battlefield. Nightmare had finally reacted at the last possible moment; striking at the commander with his massive blade, Soul Edge had easily cut through his heavy armor, decapitating him and sending the disembodied head rolling back towards the troops. Several of them threw down their weapons and fled in terror right then and there, but many stayed. Nightmare did not care, though. As the first wave approached, he tightened his grip on Soul Edge, then sung it in an upwardly curving arc, striking the entire line of soldiers attacking him. The lucky ones died instantly from the blow; the unlucky ones were sent flying backwards, landing with the horrible sound of crunching bone. Even more soldiers ran away at this, but there were still a stubborn few who continued the assault.

Minutes later, all of the cowardly had run, run as fast as they could and did not look back. All of the noble lay dead or dying, with those who had retained consciousness moaning in pain until Nightmare found and finished them. He did this grim work with a savage glee, taking joy in the merciless slaughter of the wounded. It was not long before his work was finished; there was not a living soul left on the battlefield besides him. Standing on top of the small hill where he had made his stand, Nightmare reached out with his deformed hand, holding his palm open. Soon, eerie white lights began floating away from the numerous bodies; they left them slowly and purposefully, but once freed they quickly flew to Nightmare's waiting palm. He looked down at the goring white ball in his palm, a greedy look in his eyes.

"Souls..." Nightmare whispered hoarsely.

He closed his hand, absorbing the power of the souls he had slain. They did little to sate his eternal hunger, unfortunately; they were weak and frightful, reflecting the nature of the pathetic mortals he had slaughtered. He relished in the slaughter and death, but regaining his strength would be impossible if he consumed only souls of such low quality. For now, sadly, it was the best he could do; the powerful warriors of Europe were doing their best to avoid him, as they always had.

Nightmare growled, signifying that he had finished his meager meal. He prepared to leave this area in search of more innocent souls to consume, when something stopped him. There was something in the air...he could sense it. A powerful soul was nearby; a great warrior whose soul would make a great feast. Nightmare turned around quickly, in the direction that he felt this presence. A couple dozen feet away, a man in an impressive suit of armor was standing there, rigidly. His entire body was covered; even his eyes were shadowed by his large helm. He had a sword almost as large as Soul Edge itself, and he held it at his side, staring right at Nightmare.

Nightmare gripped Soul Edge, almost shuddering with anticipation. He had not consumed a soul of this quality since his re-emergence; it would be good to truly feed again. Several moments passed where neither of them moved, each sizing up their opponent. Then, without warning, they both dashed forward, running at top speed while holding their swords aloft. They quickly met in the center, and the clang of steel meeting steel signaled the beginning of their fight.

It was a glorious battle. Nightmare dodged, duck, swung with all his might, used every technique he knew...and the mysterious man matched him, blow for blow. He did not seem to tire, and Nightmare, of course, was above such things. In fact, his attacks grew in intensity, as his opponent's obvious skill was a sign of just how nourishing his soul would be. The fight seemed to last for ages, neither able to gain the advantage.

Eventually, however, Nightmare saw his chance. The man attacked with a devastating horizontal strike; Nightmare barely ducked underneath it in time. Before the man could regain his balance, though, Nightmare struck out with his deformed arm, holding Soul Edge in his normal one. His monstrous hand closed around the man's face, and he lifted him off the ground, shaking violently until he dropped the large sword he was carrying. Nightmare then began to squeeze, trying to close the hand with which he was holding the man's head. The man writhed, kicking and beating his fists against Nightmare's arm, trying to free himself.

"SUFFER!" Nightmare screamed, doubling his efforts. Soon enough, the armor and flesh gave way, and there was a sickening crunch as his hand closed into a fist. Feeling great joy, Nightmare re-opened his hand and let the limp body fall onto the ground. He held out his mutated arm in triumph, ready to absorb the soul he had rightfully earned.

After a few moments, however, it became quite obvious that something was wrong. No strange white light left the man's body, and in fact, Nightmare could no longer even sense the presence of the powerful soul which he had sought. Closer inspection revealed other oddities; the man's head, despite being crushed, held no sign of bleeding, or of leaking any other fluid that a human head would. Suddenly full of anger, Nightmare smashed the body with Soul Edge...and it broke apart, revealing that it had never been anything more than a suit of armor.

Nightmare let out a horrible scream of rage, a bestial fury rising within him. He had been tricked! Someone had set this enchanted armor after him, and disguised it to seem as if it contained a soul. But who? He did not linger long on the question, for he did not truly care; all he cared about was ensuring that this person suffered a horrible, painful death.

In his wrath, he almost missed the appearance of another strong soul behind him. Still seething, he pretended not to notice at first, merely hefting Soul Edge as if he were to begin traveling again. Then, without warning, he spun around and swung his blade in a diagonal arc, starting high and slamming it into the ground.

"Well, that's not a very warm welcome."

He turned around again, ready to strike with Soul Edge. Something about the woman before him halted his assault, however. She had blonde hair, and wore unusual clothes. There was an aura around her...something within her soul that told Nightmare even he should be careful around this one.

"Leave me be, woman," he growled, "I have no time for weaklings."

"Weakling? That's rather funny coming from you."

Her words renewed his anger, and he attacked her once more, bringing Soul Edge in a quick horizontal strike. Once again, however, she somehow dodged it and ended up behind him.

"Weak, fragmented, you are nowhere near whole. It took most of your strength to beat that automaton, who is but a mere shade of the true power that you need. And you never will obtain that power, if you continue to devour the souls of the weak and innocent."

At this she spread her arms, indicating the many bodies that still surrounded them. Nightmare growled again, staring at the woman with a murderous look in his eyes.

"Then give me your soul, so that I may take its strength!" he bellowed, attacking again. Unsurprisingly, he missed, and she was behind him.

"No, I don't think I'll be doing that," she chuckled. But then she immediately got a serious look on her face. "I will, however, take you to a place where you may challenge those who are strong of will. Their souls would be a banquet compared to your recent fare."

Nightmare paused for a moment, thinking over what she had said. A chance to challenge and consume the souls of great warriors? It was exactly what he needed to regain his power! And then he could show the pathetic fools of the world the true meaning of suffering...

"What must I do?" he asked, knowing that it would not come without a catch.

She smiled at him. "All you need to do is participate in a tournament. And you must follow the rules, of course. Absolutely no killing...outside of your matches."

Nightmare seemed to mull it over, deep in thought. The blade's eerie pulsating quickened, and the eye set in it almost seemed to blink. After some time, he turned back to the woman.

"Very well," he said gruffly.

She smiled again. "Excellent. Now, if you will just remain still, I will take us to the tournament."

The woman took some dust out of a bag, and then spread it over herself and Nightmare. A moment later, the battlefield was empty except for the corpses that still littered the ground.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	21. Little Mac, Matt the Mii

**Prefic: TKO From Tokyo**

On one side of the boxing ring, was a tall blonde man they called Joe. He wasn't much of a boxer, he had only won a single bout in his entire pathetic career. Nobody knew why he kept fighting, maybe it was because he was a glutton for punishment. Maybe it was because he wanted to get another win in his career. How pathetic is it to have one hundred losses, and only a single win? He had earned himself the nickname Glass Joe, because of his glass jaw. A couple of hits to his jaw, and Joe was out. Joe was so bad of a boxer, they say he could be beaten by his own shadow.

On the other side of the boxing ring, was a short man they called Little Mac. He was the heavyweight champion of the world after beating Mr. Dream. Mr. Dream was on his way to his one hundredth straight win, without any losses, when Little Mac came in and knocked him out. Mac didn't join many tournaments anymore, instead people joined tournaments to get to face him. But he made an exception for this one. Some heavyweight champion from another world decided to come and challenge the Mac. He couldn't turn that chance down. He'd have to get past two fighters to get to the so called champion. Glass Joe was his first obstacle. He wasn't much of an obstacle at all. More like a stepping stone to step over or around.

The bell sounded, and Round 1 began. Mac swiftly dodged the left glove of Glass Joe, and then swiftly dodged his right. If anything was clear, it was that Glass Joe hadn't improved. Mac threw a punch of his own, hitting Joe smack in the jaw. Another three swift punches to the jaw later, and Glass Joe was on the ground. The referee began to count. One. If it wasn't over now, it would be soon. Two. Even if Joe managed to get up, Mac would knock him down again. Three. Four. It was almost disappointing. He didn't even put up a fight. Five. Six. Seven. This was embarrassing. Even Mac thought Joe deserved better. The crowd started to Boo, not at Mac, but at Joe. Eight. Nine. Ten. The match was over. In a single round, Mac was able to take down his opponent.

Mac didn't even break a sweat. This wasn't the challenge he was looking for. It wasn't a challenge at all. It was a cake walk. His mother could've beaten Glass Joe, and she walked with a cane. Mac focused on his next match, another familiar name. Piston Honda. Honda had been the Minor Circuit Champ, and was a boxer worth fighting. Honda was a bigger man than Joe, a stronger man. But Mac knew he could handle him. Just as he had done twice before.

Mac stepped back into the ring, not even slightly tired from his last fight. The round began. A left jab, followed by a right Jab to Little Macs jaw got the blood flowing. He hadn't felt this good since his fight with Mr. Dream. Of course Dream was a bigger challenger than Honda. Mac threw a couple of punches of his own, smacking each of Pistons cheeks. He swiftly dodged the next few jabs from Honda, and then followed through with a sucker punch that knocked him over. Mac knew Honda wasn't going down so easily. One. Two. Three. Still not up? Four. Five. Six. Mac was disappointed. Seven. Eight. And Honda got back up on his feet. Little Mac smiled. The fight wasn't done just yet. Honda threw a left hook, hitting Mac square in the chest. Mac recovered quickly, and delivered an uppercut to Pistons chin. The bell rang, and round 1 was over.

Piston still wasn't much of a challenge. He couldn't wait to meet this other boxer from another world. He wondered just how good he was, if he chose Glass Joe of all people to be the first line of defense against the Mac. He'd either have to be terrible to think Joe was good, or so good he didn't need a defense. Mac couldn't wait.

The bell rang, and round 2 began. Honda started off strong, with a Banzai attack, but Mac dodged, and delivered a swift uppercut to Honda's jaw. Play time was over, it was time to end the fight. Little Mac was tired of playing games. Mac delivered a gutter, followed by a jab to the left side of Honda's face. He then followed through with eight consecutive punches to the jaw, before finishing off with a sucker punch. Honda fell again. One. Two. Three. Mac hoped he'd stay down for his own good. Four. Five. Six. Still disappointing. Seven. Eight. Not getting up? Nine. Ten. Mac beat his second obstacle. Another win on his record. Though Mac had considered asking to have it stricken from the record. He'd rather go 100-0 against some good opponents than 200-0 against some weak ones.

The final challenger, was of course the boxer from another world. Matt the Mii. Little Mac took a glance at his opponent before entering the locker room. He didn't look like a big guy, but that didn't make Mac overconfident. He himself wasn't very big. Matt looked kind of strange though. Thin arms, thin legs. Decently built body though. Mac couldn't wait to see what the guy had in store for him.

Mac entered the locker room. He had barely broken a sweat from his last match. But he sat down, and took a breather. He wasn't sure what this last guy was capable of. He could very well be like Mr. Dream. Or he could be like Glass Joe. Either way he wanted to end the match as quickly as possible, and maintain his title. But he was still excited about it. Fighting someone new. It was an adrenaline rush.

Round 1 was about to begin. Little Mac stepped into the ring, looking closely at Matt the Mii. He controlled his breathing. He trained his eye to follow Matt's fists. He was ready. He couldn't wait. The bell rang. A rocket punch to the left side of Macs head left him slightly disoriented. Finally a real challenge. Mac threw a punch back, and Matt blocked. Very good. Mac threw another punch, which Matt blocked. Matt threw the punch this time, and Mac dodged. Matt clearly had no attack pattern like the others had. It was rather refreshing. But the fight wouldn't last long. As dust settled over the ring, Mac wondered what was going on. The crowd wondered what was going on. Boos filled the arena as the challenger, and the defender were both whisked away. Somewhere, Lucretia was smiling. Her plan was brilliant. And all she had to do was convince Glass Joe to come out of retirement, and Piston Honda to fight against Little Mac again. And it had worked.

By Cloud and Squall


	22. Squall Leonhart

**Prefic: The Lions Heart**

The Dream, he was having it again. The one where he was standing in a field of flowers, waiting for her. But she didn't come, she never did. The dream always ended the same way, with Squall running towards the open ocean, screaming her name. "Rinoa!". Then like always he would wake up, and realize it was just a dream. He was actually grateful that he had the dreams, because they meant he still remembered. Because the scariest thing to him, wasn't losing Rinoa. It was forgetting her. Because if he lost her, it meant that he could still find her. And because of the dream, he always knew where to look.

It was hard to believe that you could forget someone so important to you. But the guardian forces made the idea a reality. Though they served to benefit mankind, there were risks involved in using them. The risks taken did not involve life and death situations, but rather something much closer to the heart- your memories. Though our memories reside in our brain, it is in our hearts that they lie forever. When we forget these precious moments that life gives us, we lose who we are. Rinoa was big part of Squall. She had changed who he was entirely. To lose her, would be to truly lose himself. For everyday he would wake up next to her, he was grateful.

He just stared at her for a moment, glancing over her beautiful face. She looked so peaceful, just as she did every morning. Not wanting to wake her up, he slowly climbed out of bed. Now standing, he looked back at her again. He loved to look at her, it gave him a feeling inside that was indescribable. He turned away one last time, and left her resting peacefully. He started to walk around Balamb Garden, watching as the students went about their daily lives. Some of them were rushing to class, not wanting to be late for Instructor Trepe's class. Some of them were rushing to the cafeteria, before they ran out of hot dogs again. Whatever they were doing, they were happy about doing it. And Squall was actually happy for them. He had become somewhat of a leader for them, especially once Headmaster Cid felt that he no longer could handle the job. Most of the students, as well as the staff looked up to him. Before Rinoa had changed him, he didn't want that kind of respect. But now, he instead felt honored by it. As he walked towards the elevator, he heard Dr. Kadawaki come over the p.a. system.

"Squall Leonhart, please come to the infirmary. I repeat. Squall Leonhart, please come to the infirmary."

Squall sighed as he heard the announcement. He had been on a rather peaceful walk, and wanted to sit in his office and reflect on the past few days. He slowly turned back, to walk to the infirmary. "Why does she want to see me now" filled his thoughts. Dr. Kadawaki never called him unless it was something serious, and that was never good. He hoped that it didn't have anything to do with Rinoa, remembering her lying peacefully in their bed. He realized that it couldn't have been about her, or at least he hoped that it didn't. These worries were quickly cleared up however, when he saw Dr. Kadawakis smiling face.

"Yeah?" Squall asked.

"Casual as ever I see." the doctor said. "One of the younger students managed to get themselves hurt in the training area."

Great Squall thought. The younger students had always been reckless in exploring the training area. It wasn't something that Squall really understood. He had never done it in his youth. Of course that was when he was someone who played by all the rules. He still played by most of them, but from time to time he managed to bend them a litle.

"So why did you need me here?" Squall asked, impatient.

"His instructor was unable to come and get him." she explained. "So I figured that you would be the one to call".

Squall figured that the doctor was right, as she had almost always been. Though he didn't like it. It wasn't that he didn't have any time for children, it was that if they followed the rules, they wouldn't get hurt.

"Alright, I'll take him back to his room" Squall said, almost grudgingly. The tone in his voice expressed that he was upset by having to tend to this mess, but at the same time was more than happy to help.

He took the little boys hand, and walked him out of the clinic. It wasn't a long walk to the dormitories, and Squall had hoped that by the time he was done Rinoa would be awake. He chuckled as he thought about her waking up too late to take her afternoon nap. But it was still early yet, and her nap wouldn't be spoiled so long as she woke up in the next couple of hours. His next thought was interrupted, by something hard hitting him on the head. He wasn't able to tell what it was, before passing out.

Hmph. Passed out, just like I told ya. the familiar male voice said.

Yes, Yes. I know. You don't need to brag the unfamiliar female voice said.

As the words reached Squalls ears, he had started to regain consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes. What he saw, wasn't all that surprising. Seifer Almasy, and a blonde woman in a strange outfit. As Squall struggled to stand up, Seifer grabbed his arm, and put his hand over his mouth. The glove on Seifers hand felt weird up against his mouth. He struggled to call for help, but was unable to. He could've easily overpowered Seifer, it he hadn't just received a blow to the head.

"Don't worry. We won't kill you" Lucretia said smiling. It was almost creepy the way she said it. She then sprinkled some Travel Dust over him, and whisked him away. "Well thank you very much Mr. Almasy"

Seifer laughed. "Shall we get going?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention you wouldn't be coming?" she asked him.

Seifer was visibly upset at this remark.

Lucretia smiled. "Sorry, you've been replaced." She then quickly sprinkled some dust over herself, and was gone in a flash.

By Cloud and Squall (Who I've forgot is even writing, and I haven't uploaded many of his fics. He's the hardest working, so I feel bad. And he's our leader! Don't fire me!)


	23. Pacman, Bomberman, Crash, Spyro, PaRappa

**Prefic: The Fearsome Five**

It was simple, almost too simple. Lucretia couldn't believe how unbelievably simple the next contestant on her list was. She knew that he wouldn't be too cooperative, and was possibly dangerous. But she had a genius plan to get him back to the castle. It was almost scary really, how genius her plan was. Pacman was wondering around the maze, eating all of the dots he could find, when the ghosts were released. Pacman had given them the run around too many times before. He was able to successfully avoid them without much difficulty now. But this time, the ghosts seemed almost smarter somehow. They didn't wander as they normally had, instead they almost seemed to focus on cornering Pacman. But even so, Pacman could avoid them long enough to grab a power pellet. Once he got that, he would be able to take out as many of the ghosts as he could in a short period of time. He wasn't worried at all. Even with he smarter ghosts, he could make it in time. He happily munched on dots, as he made his way towards the first power pellet he could find. Each dot he munched, he savored. He didn't worry about the ghosts, in time they too would become dinner. If there was one thing Pacman loved more than his wife, it was food. Of course his wife spent all her time in the kitchen, so the two often times went together. Once in a while Ms. Pac would go out into the maze to eat dots as well. But she knew her place was in the kitchen, so she didn't come out unless she knew her husband wasn't going to find out. Those who didn't know Pacman would've sworn that he didn't have a wife at all, and simply was a drag queen. After all, few people had ever seen the two together. Pacman continued eating dots as he made his way to the first power pellet he could find. It wasn't much further, but the ghosts were gaining some ground on him. He started to pick up the speed a little, not wanting to be overconfident in his abilities. He finally made his way to the power pellet, and munched on it quietly. Time to kill some ghosts! He thought. But before he could move, dust came from the ceiling, and dropped onto him. Lucretia smiled. "Another one bites the dust" she giggled.

---

The next contestant wasn't so simple. Lucretia used the Travel Dust on herself, and was whisked away to the next world. This one would be a little more difficult, and a little more dangerous. The White Bomber was capable of materializing bombs out of thin air, a dangerous ability for anybody to have. But the White Bomber also knew how to use them very effectively. Though some called him the white bomber, most people just called him Bomberman. Not to be confused with some other Bomberman that looks more like a robot, and doesn't in fact exist, this Bomberman is almost human like in terms of appearance. Of course the square shaped head sort of changes everything. Though it wouldn't be easy, Lucretia figured a way to get Bomberman back to the castle without getting herself blown up in the process. It too was quite a genius plan, though there were some minor complications. But she had, as she always did, figure out a way around even those complications. As Bomberman walked towards the pile of boxes, he materialized a bomb in his right hand, making it just the right size. He then dropped the bomb to the ground, and kicked it toward the boxes. With a simple flick of a switch, he pulled the trigger. The bomb exploded in a glorious fashion, and the boxes were no longer standing in his way. Or at least it appeared so at first, but there was still one small box left. It was a rather odd looking box, and Bomberman wondered how it had survived the blast. But rather than question anything, he materialized another bomb, dropped it to the ground, and kicked it. Only this time, the bomb came flying back towards him. The box had a surface that bounced the bomb back towards him. He had decided it would be for the best to walk over to the box, and place a bomb on the ground, then blast it. So he walked towards the box, placed the bomb firmly on the ground, and walked away. He pulled the switch out again, and hit it once more. The bomb exploded again in a spectacular fashion, but once again the box was still in place. He went back, and this time placed a bomb on each side of the box. Again he pulled the switch out, and blasted the box. Yet again, the box remained after the blast had cleared. This had upset Bomberman greatly, to the point where he had an idea of how to blow it up once and for all. He placed Bombs all around the box, and then using one of his bombs, got on top of the box. He held a bomb in his hand, closed his eyes, and waited for them to all explode. To his relief, he found himself falling to the ground after the explosion. The box had contained some type of dust, that was scattering about the air. As it hit him, he started to disappear from his world. Another job well done for Lucretia.

---

Lucretia whisked herself away to the next world again, trying to get as many contestants as she could, as fast as she could. There were a lot of them to go through, and the next on the list was Crash Bandicoot. She hadn't been too sure about this one. But she figured that she'd try a diplomatic approach to getting him to join the tournament. It wasn't anything new for Lucretia, she had always known how to be diplomatic. She just chose not to be most of the time. It was a lot more fun that way really. She approached the small female bandicoot known as Coco, and asked her politely where her brother was. Coco didn't speak, but rather pointed Lucretia in the direction of Crash. The direction however, wasn't left, or right, it was up. As Lucretia glanced towards the ceiling, she saw exactly what Coco had meant. Crash was stuck in the ceiling, with a jet pack on his back. Lucretia held back a laugh. Crash wasn't the smartest of creatures, but he had taken on the likes of Dr. Neo Cortex. Though it might have been somewhat through dumb luck that he managed to do it, he still managed it somehow. Coco and Lucretia helped Crash down from the ceiling. Crash rubbed his head as he landed on the floor. "Crash Bandicoot. I would like you to join a tournament consisting of one hundred and twenty eight people" she told him. He had to think for a moment, and that was something that never came easy to Crash. After a couple of seconds, Crash nodded his head wildly. He was always happy to accept a request, regardless of who it was from. Coco on the other hand wasn't so sure about Crash joining this tournament. She had questions for Lucretia, questions that Lucretia was unwilling to answer. "I'm sorry. But he has chosen to join the tournament. There is nothing you can do now." Lucretia told her. She sprinkled the travel dust over Crash, and whisked him away to the castle. "I think your brother will be safe" Lucretia said, before sprinkling more Travel Dust on herself, and going to the next world.

---

Lucretia found herself in the next world, with a fire breathing dragon breathing down her neck. But this was exactly how she had planned it, oddly enough. Because the dragon breathing down her neck was none other than the next contestant- Spyro. The mischievous dragon was only being playful, not knowing exactly who or what Lucretia was. She knew this wouldn't be as simple as just sprinkling some Travel Dust on him right here and now. She had to first gain his trust. Not that it would be hard. She had dealt with dragons in the past, or at least creatures that were similar to dragons. You couldn't really call Dragon Horses, Dragons. She slowly reached down towards the purple dragon, and patted him on the head. Her every movement was timed so as to make sure he knew that she wasn't an enemy. Not that Lucretia was terribly afraid of the purple dragon breathing fire on her. That she could handle. It'd just be easier if... he didn't. She knew that if she timed it right, she could get the travel dust onto Spyro without him noticing it. He wasn't a very large dragon, and was in fact very small. It wouldn't take much dust to get him transported back to the castle. She was sure there were other ways to go about it, but this she felt was the quickest route. She reached into her pouch slowly, making sure Spyro didn't take notice of it. She only took out a few grains of the dust. She then quickly flicked it onto the dragon, and transported him to the castle. She let out a sigh of relief, and reached in her pouch and sprinkled herself with it. "Fruites Dojo".

---

"I'm not a pedophile!

But Baby I haven't seen you in a while!

This is just my kind of scene!

At a church, hugging girls who are thirteen!"

"I wear a purple cloak

It ain't no joke

I love Goku, and Dragon Ball Z

Don't you be taking your anger out on me!"

"This place is boring without me here

But I'm not leaving, so you don't have to fear

America sucks really bad

But me? I"m really rad!"

The three rappers on the stage stopped, and Lucretia halfway applauded. Not because she enjoyed their rap, but because she wanted to be polite. When they finally got off the stage, she called out to PaRappa the Rapper, the next contestant on the list.

"If I can beat you in a rapping duel, will you agree to come with me?" Lucretia asked the dog.

"Sure, but you can't beat me. Don't you see? I'm hard to beat. I'll have you groveling at my feet".

Lucretia smiled. She had just the rap in mind.

"Now this is the story about how

My life got flipped, turned upside down

And I'd like to take a minute, don't get all smarmy

And I'll tell you how I became a strategist of of the Prince's Army

In Sol-Falena, born and raised

In the palace, where he spent most of his days

Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool

And all training to use a tri-nunchuk outside of the school

When a couple of Godwins, who were up to no good

Started making trouble in his neighborhood

He got in one little fight, and his bodyguard got afraid

and said your moving to Lunas to get from your aunt some aid

He whistled for a ship, and when it came near

The sign said "Raftfleet", so he had no fear

If anything he could say that this boat was no fake

But he thought naw forget it, yo holmes, to Lordlake

He pulled up to the castle about seven or eight

As he entered the Sindarian Home, he could tell it was fate

He looked at his kingdom, he had to run no more

He was ready to lead his army into war"

PaRappa, and the Chop Chop Master Onion were highly impressed by Lucretias talent. It was obvious that she was a superior rapper from some other world. PaRappa did not dare to try to beat her obviously awesome rap. So he decided to go along with her. Lucretia sprinkled the dust on him, transporting himself back to the castle. She then sprinkled it on herself, ready to get the next contestant. After a short rest of course.

By Cloud and Squall and Will Smith


	24. Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, Midna

**Prefic: I am Legend**

Ganondorf overlooked death mountain, waiting for Link to come. The woman had told him that Link would be there, and that Zelda would come as well. Never before had he had such a competent ally. Someone who knew where Link would be, and knew how to defeat him. The only problem was that the damned woman wouldn't say how to defeat him. It was for that reason that he couldn't trust her completely. It was for that reason, that he decided to go through with a plan of his own. He sent out an army of Darknuts to take care of Link for him. Not that they had ever been able to succeed in the past. But they were his strongest warriors, and they would not only hinder Link, but they would wound him enough for Ganondorf to finish him off.

Lucretia sat back and watched, shaking her head. Ganondorf was a fool, it was no wonder that he was never able to defeat Link. He was trying to use brawn to overpower brains. There were only a few such cases in history where brawn proved to be too much for brain. Perhaps someone like Prince Luca Blight could have done such a thing. But one like Ganondorf? Not so long as he fought in the way that he did. He didn't even fight alongside his army, he let them do all the fighting. How much was his goal really worth, if he wasn't willing to die for it?

Link came, just as Lucretia had promised. Riding in on his faithful steed Epona. Alongside him were the princess of the light realm, Zelda, and princess of the twilight realm, Midna. In his hand, the sword of legend- the master sword. It shined brightly through the darkness that covered Death Mountain. Ganondorf smiled, the woman was telling the truth. Now if only she'd tell him how to defeat Link. Not that he needed advice, but he had failed too many times in the past. He didn't want to take any chances. This time he would get all three pieces of the tri-force he had coveted so much. All thanks to that woman. He'd have to find a way to thank her later, perhaps he'd let her become his personal slave. What an honor that would be for her to accept, Lord Ganondorf's personal slave. He smiled at the thought of it. Of course she didn't look very strong. He doubted that she could actually do very much physical labor. But she had what most of his minions were lacking- brains. He was sure he could put that to use... somehow.

Once thought to be nothing more than a spoiled princess who sat in a castle, Zelda was proving to be much more than that. Bow in hand, she steadied her aim, and fired a light arrow that pierced right through the head of one of the Darknuts. The pain was unbearable, for the arrows were made of a substance that was entirely pure. It burned the darknuts head, and caused him to fall over. Another perfectly aimed arrow later, and another Darknut was dead on the ground. The princess of twilight was the one that was merely watching this battle. She couldn't do anything, not while in the world of light. No, the world of twilight was her realm, and there she ruled.

Link sat atop Epona, doing nothing. He merely looked onto the battlefield allowing Princess Zelda to do all the work for once. What was he waiting for? Ganondorf surely didn't know. Lucretia did on the other hand. She always knew. She understood why he sat atop his horse, waiting to move. It wasn't fear that made him wait, no it was strategy, something that Ganondorf lacked. Something that Lucretia could provide him if she wanted to. But this wasn't her choice. No, she had something else in mind. She just needed to make Ganondorf think that she was going to tell him. Was it a lie? Well, not exactly. She was going to tell him how to defeat Link. But not in this battle, no. She was going to tell him that he could do it in the tournament. So it wasn't in fact a lie, but a minor deception. As long as he had the chance to get the three pieces of the tri-force, he shouldn't care. She hoped so anyway. Link finally made his move, he gave Epona a soft kick to signal that he was ready. Epona took off at a tremendous speed for a horse, dashing towards the first Darknut. He swung his sword at the first Darknut, knocking it over with a single blow. This had impressed even Lucretia, who wasn't easily impressed. The second, who was coming up towards him he slashed with his sword again, knocking it over as well with only a single blow. The third Darknut in his path, he stuck his sword into it's head and ripped it out. The Darknut tumbled over, as Link signaled his horse to start moving faster. As he rode towards the top of the mountain, Zelda provided him cover. She had exact precision with her aim, every time she fired off a light arrow, it would hit a darknut, and cause them a tremendous amount of pain.

The Hero of the Gods unmounted his steed, and rolled towards the first Darknut, cuting at it's knees. He rolled around the armored creature, and when he was behind it, he struck it in the head and knocked it over. He then ran to the next one, giving it a quick slice from the Master Sword. He then ran towards another one, and struck it as well. Link ran between the two of them, calculating the exact distance that was needed. The two darknuts charged at him at a tremendous speed, but when the reached him their swords cut each other, as Link had leaped into the air and was mounting his steed. Most of the path was clear for Zelda and Midna to ride to the top. But it was no matter to Ganondorf. He never figured that his minions would be able to handle the hero of time. After all, even the great Ganondorf had lost to him before. But this time... things would be different.

Zelda walked towards Link, firing off light arrows at all of the remaining Darknuts. There were only a few left, and Link could handle them. But could the princess handle the trip to the top of the mountain? She was still, after all, a princess. But she had somehow managed to walk to where Link was at. "We have to be careful" Zelda said softly. They knew Ganondorf was waiting for them at the top. Midna somehow appeared right next to them. Link got back off of Epona. He signaled her to go back to town, it wasn't safe for her anymore. They continued their trek to the top of death mountain, and when they reached the top they saw exactly what they expected. Ganondorf.

"Fate has brought us together once more, HERO OF THE GODS"

Ganondorf's voice was booming. Even Lucretia could feel the hatred that resided in his heart. But seeing Link, with all his courage stand up to the king of evil was a feat that was impressive in itself. It was almost as if a light shine within him, repelling the darkness that resided in Ganons heart. Link showed no fear, not even an ounce. It was almost as if he knew no such thing of the emotion. Unlike many, it wasn't because he was a fool, or overconfident. It was because he had true courage flowing through his blood, running through his veins. If anybody had ever been the embodiment of courage, it was Link in this moment. The way he didn't flinch when Ganondorf stepped towards him, men with twice Links skill would've shown at least the slightest twitch... but Link didn't budge. He didn't move, he didn't even blink. His heart was undoubtedly racing at extremely high speeds. But still, he wouldn't show even the slighest hint of fear inside of him. Was this what allowed him to beat Ganondorf? Was it courage that defeated the King of Evil? Lucretia was almost positive that had something to do with it. Of course she'd never say anything to Ganondorf about it. She never had any intention of doing so.

"Alright then, shall we be off?" Lucretia asked, in the heat of battle. Link, Zelda, Midna, and even Ganondorf turned towards the blonde woman who seemed equally unaffected by the battle. Zelda and Midna had just now realized that Lucretia had been standing there the whole time.

"What do you want, woman?" Ganondorf asked.

"Oh Right. I should probably explain. I'm inviting you all to a tournament of one hundred twenty eight combatants" Lucretia told them.

"Not interested woman." Ganondorf boomed.

And Link and Ganondorf went back to fighting. But Lucretia wasn't going to give up so easily. She never did. "Oh, I'm afraid you're not allowed to decline my invitation. You see Mister King of Evil, when you hired me on as your strategist, you agreed to pay me in full. My payment is participation in this tournament"

"But you haven't done anything yet!" Ganondorf screamed.

"I'm providing you with opportunity. Opportunity to learn from your mistakes. That is the greatest thing that I, as your strategist can offer you".

"You're going to take Ganondorf away?" Zelda asked.

"You're coming too Princess. Unless you want Ganondorf to get more powerful on his own of course. Then when he comes back here, he'll devour you."

"Link..." Zelda started. "Maybe we should go"

"Great. It's decided then". Lucretia walked over towards the four of them. She first sprinkled the Travel Dust on Ganondorf, and then Link, followed by Zelda, and finally Midna. Then she smiled to herself. "Yet another job well done."

But it wasn't over. Not by a long shot. Because before long, the scariest thing Lucretia had ever seen in her entire life appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Take Tingle Too!" Tingle said.

"Fine." she said, throwing her dust on him, hoping to blind him somehow, but wishing she had blinded herself instead. With that, the hideous creature disappeared, and Lucretia was finished in Hyrule.

By Cloud and Squall


	25. Geno and the Seven Stars

**Prefic: Seven Stars**

**Featuring Geno, Serge, HK-47, Ness, Sam Fisher, Pit, Issac, and Gordon Freeman.****  
**

Star Road. It was a beautiful place, or at least Lucretia thought it was. It needed a better name though. Like 'May Sigh Shimmering On The Pale Blue Water Road". Yeah that was a much better name. But she wasn't here to be sight seeing, no she was here to get the next contestant for the tournament. Geno. Lucretia had some idea of what he'd require to join the tournament, but she wasn't positive. So rather than gathering everything ahead of time, she went to talk to him first.

"Ahh, you must be Heart Music note !?" Lucretia said.

Geno was impressed that she was able to speak his real name. "I prefer Geno" he said.

"I'm here to invite you to a tournament." She said bluntly.

"Hmm maybe. I'll go if you can bring me stars from 7 lands." Geno told her.

Lucretia smiled. It was as she expected. "That I can do."

With that, Lucretia set off on a quest to bring back seven companions, stars of their worlds. Seven contestants at that, and thus she'd kill eight birds with one stone. Much better than two.

The sand on the beach was warm, and the sound of the water splashing against the shore was calming. The sky was a beautiful azure blue, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Serge had been collecting Komodo Scales to make Schala another necklace. He had collected all three of them, and was now just waiting for her to show up. How long would it take for her to arrive? He saw a hint of blonde hair in the reflection of the water. Schala? No. Not Schala. Somebody else. Someone much older than Schala, someone who hadn't seen quite as many things but still had seen many things in their life.

"Hello" Lucretia said, a warm smile on her face.

Serge nodded, implying a greeting. He was a man of very few words, especially when he didn't know somebody. It wasn't that he was mute, he was just a bit of a silent hero.

"I'm here to invite you to a tournament of one hundred twenty eight participants' She explained to him. "And please don't think of saying no. I've come quite a long ways to get you, and I'm kind of tired. So please?"

Serge nodded, implying that he would in fact join the tournament. One down, six to go. Lucretia sprinkled the travel dust on the two for them, and they were off to the next world.

"Warning. Back off meatbags, if you don't want me to blast you to oblivion. Though I would really enjoy it" the robotic voice said.

It was HK-47, a droid, and the next contestant that Lucretia was to pick up. Though she wasn't really sure if she considered him a star or not. She decided to go along with it anyway.

"I have a proposition for you." Lucretia said.

HK-47 detected no hostility in Lucretia's voice, and was disappointed to say the least. "Commentary. I am not interested"

"You'll have the chance to kill a lot of people" Lucretia said.

HK-47 for the first time in his life, found a meatbag, other than his master, that he could relate to. Kill? Lovely. Humans? Even better. And a chance to do it without question? A droids dream come true. "Commentary. On second thought... I would be very interested"

Lucretia smiled. "Good."

"Query. Master. Can I go?" the droid asked

Revan thought on it for a moment. He wasn't entirely sure about it, but in the end decided that the droid may join the tournament. He considered it some sort of reward for him. Which was odd, considering the droid could be destroyed. But whatever floated his boat.

"Commentary. I am grateful. Shall we go, Madam?"

Lucretia nodded at the robot, and smiled.

"Statement. Oh, and shall I dispose of the meatbag that is standing next to you Madam?" HK-47 asked.

"Oh no, he'll be part of the tournament too" Lucretia said.

"Statement. Understood. I will dispose of the meatbag for you later"

With that said, she was two for seven. And with a little bit of travel dust, she'd soon be three of seven.

"Hahahahaha, you can't beat the great Giygas" Pokey taunted, as a Blonde woman, a robot, and a blue haired man appeared behind him.

Ness, Paula, Poo, and Jeff all widened their eyes confused at Lucretia and her entourage. Where had she come from? WHy was she there? Was she on Giygas side? Or was she on theirs?

"Commentary. Oh Great. More meatbags. May I please commit wanton acts of Violence madam?"

"Not right now" Lucretia commanded. HK-47 was upset. "Now Ness, I need you to come with me"

Ness pointed to himself, and Lucretia nodded. Ness wasn't too sure what the seemingly nice lady and her crazy robot wanted. And he wasn't sure he wanted to go with them. He wasn't sure he even had a choice. And what about Pokey, Paula, Poo, and Jeff?

"Why do you need him?" Paula asked in a sweet tone of voice.

"Yeah, why do you need that loser?" Pokey asked.

"You've been invited to a tournament, and are required to participate. Now come over here, or I will let HK-47 commit acts of wanton violence on your friends"

HK-47 liked the sound of that. Lucretia was such a nice meatbag. If more meatbags were like her, he wouldn't have a problem with them at all. On the other hand, Jeff, Paula and Poo didn't like the sound of it.

"Alright I'll join" Ness said, walking over to Lucretia.

"Good. Now let's get going" Lucretia said, and with a little more dust hey were on their way to star number four.

Ellsworth Prison, Kansas. Not the usual place for a woman to show up with two children, and a robot? It was a robot, the guard had figured. And it talked. About violence, and lot's of it. But his superiors had ordered that she be allowed to see Inmate D2334223424, Sam Fisher. It was a strange request, but it wasn't his problem. It came from the superiors, and he wasn't going to get fired over it.

As Lucretia walked towards Sam's cell, the other prison mates whistled at her, and shouted obscenities towards her. They hadn't seen a woman in a long time, and they'd be lucky if they ever saw one again. And Lucretia wasn't bad looking for a woman at that. They figured the young boy was her son... and the other one? Maybe her son. The robot they were confused by. Very confused. HK-47 wasn't confused by them however. He knew their intentions.

"Query. Shall I kill these meatbags for you Madam?"

Lucretia laughed. "No. No worries HK-47. They can't bother me from behind their bars. I know what it's like being locked up. Hardly any contact. sigh"

Prison? The Inmates were surprised to hear that. What had she done? Overdue Parking tickets? If they only knew. They'd probably have been very shocked to know she had been to prison for treason.

"Statement. If they proceed further than you like, I will kill the meatbags without your permission madam".

"Alright" she said, smiling. She was always smiling.

She finally reached Sam Fishers cell. Sam wasn't expecting visitors.

"What do you want?" He asked bluntly.

"You to come to a tournament. I suppose you don't have anything better to do, do you?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." he told her.

"Oh, too bad" she said, and sprinkled dust on the five of them. Three more to go.

Sam Fisher found himself standing on... clouds? Yeah, that was awkward.

"Take me back to prison" Sam said, surprised to hear himself say that.

"Commentary. I will gladly kill this meatbag now for you madam if you wish" HK-47 said.

"Not necessary HK-47. Now... to find Pit"

And there he was. Walking, or rather flying towards them. Fighting snakes of course. It was always snakes, except when it wasn't. Then it was something else. But this time it was snakes.

"Excuse me, Mister Pit. We'd like to invite you to join us in a tournament" Lucretia said.

Almost before she could finish, Pit had his answer. "I'll do it. Just get me out of here!" he screamed. And with that, the Travel dust whisked them off, and now there was only two people left to get. The snakes were of course confused, they no longer had an angel to chase.

"What do you mean?" Ivan asked. "We're going to take Sheba... oh no..." He finally realized it.

"That's right. You won't be going back. This is it for you!" Saturos told them.

"Excuse me?" Mia asked.

Garet spoke out again. "Enough! You're the ones who aren't going anywhere!"

"Bring it on whelp!" Saturos said. "You won't live long enough to regret your stupidity!"

"Prepare to experience first-hand the horror of a master Fire Adept!" Menardi said.

But before a battle could begin, a blonde woman, along with two children, a man, and a robot appeared.

"We're trying to battle here!" Saturos said, angered.

"Oh don't worry. We're just here for Isaac" Lucretia assured him.

"What do you want Isaac for?" Garet asked her, confused.

"He just needs to come with me for a tournament of one hundred twenty eight people" she explained.

"Query. May I kill these meatbags if they don't comply madam?" HK-47 piped in, as he had many times before.

"Not now HK-47. Now, Isaac, will you join us?'"

"You can have him after we kill him." Saturos assured her.

"No, I'm afraid I have to have him very much alive" Lucretia said, to HK-47s disappointment.

"Can't I defeat these two first?" Isaac asked. "I can't just leave them here..."

That could've been a problem. But Lucretia had the solution in mind. "Saturos, Menardi. Do you think you could wait for Isaac here to get done with the tournament. I assure you it won't take too long".

Saturos couldn't believe he was doing this. "Alright. Fine."

"Good, then we shall be off. And don't think of trying to continue the fight without him, or I'll let HK-47 here rip your meatbag body to shreds":

HK-47 suddenly remembered why he liked Lucretia. He secretly hoped they'd continue the fight, so he'd get to come back. But with that said, the dust settled again, and they traveled to one last world before returning to 'May Sigh Shimmering On The Pale Blue Water Road". Err... Star Road.

They found themselves in a strange compound, with the man they were looking for nowhere in sight. But something else was there... something sinister. The Combine. They were humanoid in appearance, and they were running straight at Lucretia and her group. Lucretia didn't worry about it too much, but as soon as they started getting close she started running, and so did the rest of the group. But the combine kept getting closer to them.

"HK-47. Perform some unadulterated wanton violence on those meatbags following us" She asked of him nicely.

HK-47 was smiling. Well if he could smile, he would be. "Commentary. It would be my pleasure".

The droid stayed behind to hold off the combine. Well to do more than that really. To kill them all. As many as he could at least. Lucretia figured that he would catch up to them sooner or later. She had hoped sooner, rather than later though.

"Maybe I should have stayed and helped" Sam said.

"No. You'd only take some kills away from him, and he wouldn't be very happy about it." Lucretia said.

And before long, it looked as if some of HK's kills would have to be taken away, as more Combines were coming from another direction. Lucretia was almost afraid. She had planned for this, but still it was a horrifying experience

"Don't worry. You have my gun" Sam said.

"And my Swallow!" Serge threw in there.

"And my bat" Ness told her.

"And my bow!" Pit piped in.

The four of them stayed to hold off the combine as Lucretia went as fast as she could to get Gordon Freeman. Well not as fast as she could, as she walked there. She didn't seem to have a worry about anything. She finally found Gordon, in the mens bathroom, scratching out some letters. GFNW. She had an idea of what that might mean, but didn't have time to ask. "Mr. Freeman, I'm here to cordially invite you to a tournament of fighters. Please join us"

"Alright" Gordon said, without hesitation.

"Now we need to get back to the rest of my..." she started to say. "No. We'll wait for them here."

Ten seconds later and the group had met back up with Lucretia. She was somewhat relieved that her combatants didn't get killed. She hadn't even left them with a strategy. But they survived. That's all that mattered.

Gordon Freeman found the droid particularly interesting. He started to touch it. That was a big mistake. Then he said he wanted to take it apart. That was a bigger mistake.

HK-47 spoke. "Commentary. If you touch me again meatbag, I will be forced to blast you to oblivion".

Gordon promptly took his hands off the robot, and before any more of the combine could come, Lucretia sprinkled everybody with dust. And they were back on Star Road again. This time, she had the seven stars in hand.

"I'm back" She said to Geno. "I brought you seven stars".

Geno pointed towards the droid. He shook his head. "That one is no star"

"Query. Should i destroy this meatbag madam? It would give me much pleasure"

Lucretia shook her head. "But he should be. And that's the point. So let's go!"

With that said, Lucretia sprinkled the dust on all of them, and eight more combatants were added to the castle.

By Cloud and Squall


	26. Samus, Ridley

**Prefic: The Galaxy is at Peace...**

The bounty hunter Samus Aran leaped to the side, stopping right before her momentum carried her into the lava. She quickly turned on her heel, her arm cannon raised and charging. As it charged up a more powerful shot, she brought her other hand up to her visor, activating its scan capabilities. It quickly focused on the large purple dragon dive bombing her, seconds away from impact.

"Ridley. Unknown species, Unknown home planet. Ridley is a general of the Space Pirates, having been appointed as such for his tactical skill, but mostly his brute combat strength. Ridley is significantly more powerful than most Space Pirates, and shares little genealogical similarities. Thus, it can be determined that he is not one of their own, but rather a different species that they were impressed with and recruited."

Just like every other time with Ridley, the scan visor proved no help. He was one of the most dangerous enemies Samus had faced on her many adventures; the winged beast was more than capable of taking her missiles and other weaponry, and was a very quick and agile opponent himself. He possessed enough strength to tear through her powersuit with his claws, and could shoot sweltering fireballs. Worst of all, there was no strategy to fighting Ridley; no weak point to exploit. It looked like she was going to have to go with the usual plan of "Shoot him until he dies." Right before he crashed into Samus, she fired her fully charged blaster, hitting him square in the chest. Ridley paused in the air, screeching in pain, and Samus took this opportunity to again jump to the side, avoiding his subsequent claw attack. She had already charged up another blast and hit him from behind, causing him to screech again and turn around.

Samus prepared to fire a volley of missiles at the dragon, but something caught her attention. Over on another rock floating in the lava, she thought she saw a blonde woman in strange clothing. This distracted Samus for a moment, which proved to be a grave mistake. In that single moment, Ridley shot a large fireball out of his mouth, smashing into Samus and obscuring her vision. Her powersuit protected her from most of the damage of the fire and heat, but its energy stores were rapidly depleting, which was not helped when Ridley came charging forward, sending her flying back with a wicked slash of his claws.

Samus managed to land on her feet, though she had sustained massive amounts of damage. Forgoing charging her arm cannon, she instead stood poised as Ridley took to the air, once again attempting to dive bomb her. When he was about half of the way towards her, she jumped up to meet him, curling into a ball. The second before impact, she activated the Screw Attack function, turning her round form into a whirling circle of death. It was too late for Ridley to avoid contact, and the spinning Samus tore into his chest, sending blood and bits of his flesh flying everywhere. He let out the loudest screech yet, almost being knocked out of the air by the force of her attack.

Such a devastating assault did not come without a price, though. As soon as she uncurled, Ridley reached out with one of his clawed hands and grasped her around the middle. He rose higher in the air, holding Samus tightly, and prepared to slash her again with his other hand. Thinking quickly, Samus charged up her blaster, then fired off a missile point-blank at Ridley's face. The explosion knocked out her visor for another second, and her ears were full of the sound of Ridley's wailing. When her vision returned, it seemed Ridley's flight had given out at last, as they were both zooming towards the lava over where he had been flying.

Samus thought she saw the same blonde woman again, but more pressing concerns were on her mind at that point. She tried to loosen Ridley's grip on her, but her efforts proved futile; the dragon was too strong. However, right above the lava where the two would surely meet their end, Samus and Ridley encountered a strange dust cloud. The lava sat waiting to envelope the bounty hunter and the dragon, but they never left the cloud.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	27. Lucretia's Day Off: Ten Character Whammy

**Prefic: Cheesecake**

**  
Featuring Ryu, Akuma, Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, Tommy Vercetti, Amaterasu, Rayman, Ryu Hayabusa, and Viewtiful Joe.**

Lucretia fanned herself as she walked into Lucretia's Bend. Her own little town not far from the castle. She was getting a little tired of gathering contestants, and felt that it was time for a break. But first, she'd stop by the Wonder Chef's Bakery. As she entered the bakery, she immediately knew what she was going to order. It was the same thing he always wanted.

"I'd like Five Cheesecakes please" Lucretia said, smiling.

The Wonder Chef didn't speak, he only handed her the five cheesecakes. They were all stacked on top of one another. Lucretia found no difficulty in carrying them back to the Bodyguard Service where she was headed. It wasn't too far of a walk anyway. As she entered Prime Bodyguards, she got the sense that he was in fact the right person to ask this favor.

"There you are Georg" She said, with a smile on her face

Behind the counter, was a rather large man, with an eyepatch, and jet black hair. It was Georg Prime, Queens Knight and former Imperial General for the Scarlet Moon Empire.

"Oh, Hello Lucretia." Georg said.

"I need a favor from you" she said, sitting the cheesecakes on the table. "I need you to college ten contestants for me" she said.

"Isn't that your job?" Georg asked.

"Yes, but I just need a break. So Please?" She asked. "i'll give you these five cheesecakes I Just happen to have if you do it"

"Alright" he said, with no hesitation. He loved cheesecake, and besides, getting ten contestants would be pretty easy. Not that much was hard for Georg.

Lucretia handed Georg a list of ten contestants, and then left for her manor to take a well deserved rest. Georg grabbed a pouch of travel dust. He looked towards the second floor of his building as if he wanted to say something. But he thought better of it, and exited the building. He was ready to collect the contestants. But he was going to do it his way.

The White Wolf Amaterasu wandered almost aimlessly, as if waiting for someone. And then he appeared before her. She sniffed the man, and could tell that he was friendly. Georg looked down at her, and smiled. "Hello there" he said. Georg reached down to pet her, and she licked his hand to let him know she was friendly too. "You're going to have to join a tournament. I'll transport you to the castle." Georg said. Amaterasu sat up, showing that she was willing to go. "Hmmm on second though, I think i'll take you with me."

With that, Georg sprinkled dust on the two of them, and they were whisked away to another land.

Tommy Vercetti was in the middle of his casino, with Ken Rosenberg next to him. They were surrounded by a lot of cops. But Tommy wasn't worried. He had a plan. He was going to get out of here without a scratch on him. Ken? He might have some trouble. But Tommy didn't care.

"My goons are going to be here any moment" he told the coppers.

But then Tommy heard a voice he had never heard before in his life, rather than the goons he was expecting.

"I'm afraid not. See, your goons ran into me." Georg said.

The police turned their attention to the rather large knight, and the wolf that was with him. Tommy couldn't believe that his goons were taken out by a freak with a gun and a wolf. But judging by the blood on the man sword, he had done it. Tommy was highly upset at this. The police too were upset. This man had just killed a bunch of people, and he didn't have a badge. They all turned their weapons on Georg.

"You're lucky I'm one of the good guys, because if I wasn't, I'd really not appreciate you all turning your weapons on me" Georg said.

But the police didn't back down. Of course they didn't shoot either. They didn't dare piss off the powerful man.

"I'll be taking Tommy Vercetti with me" He said.

"I don't want to go with you" Vercetti told him.

"Oh." Georg said. "I don't care. You're coming anyway".

Ammy howled to reinforce the point.

Georg walked forcefully towards Vercetti, and grabbed his arm. He then sprinkled Travel Dust on Vercetti. The police were too confused about the criminal disappearing to do anything about it. Georg then used it on himself and Ammy, and was ready for the next world.

Ryu performed a roundhouse kick on Akuma, knocking him back slightly. Akuma came back with an uppercut, and then another cut. Then both warriors backed off a bit, and prepared to unleash a brutal move. This move was known as Hadoken. Ryu started a little earlier than Akuma did, which made up for Akuma's speed. Both released their Hadokens at the same time, which charged towards each other. But standing in the middle of everything, having appeared out of nowhere was Georg Prime.

"Oh Great" Prime thought, as he was hit by both of the Hadokens. He shrugged them off as if they were nothing. Needless to say both warriors were surprised.

"Who are you?" Ryu asked.

Georg dusted off his shoulder, and checked Ammy to see if she was okay. "Me? I'm Georg Prime". Akuma rushed towards Georg, to make him move out of the way. But Georg slung his blade at Akuma, and knocked him back ten feet. "Don't charge me again if you want to live" he said.

"We were in the middle of fighting here" Ryu said. "So if you don't mind."

"I do." Georg said. Akuma started to move. "I told you not to charge me again if you want to live. Now let's get down to business. A tournament is being hosted with one hundred twenty eight combatants. You will be joining."

"Will you be in this tournament?" Akuma asked.

"Nope. Wasn't interested."

"Well then neither am !" Akuma said.

"Tell you what. If you come along willingly, I'll give you a chance to spar against ol' Georg here."

"I could use a challenge I suppose." Akuma said, wanting to get the chance to go after Georg after that attack.

"Fine I'll join too" Ryu said.

The two warriors approached him, and he poured Travel Dust on them. He then looked at ammy. "Not bad eh?" he asked. Ammy only howled with approval. He then sprinkled dust on the two of them, and they were off once more

"Daaaah!" The Rabbids screamed, as they fired plunger guns at each other. 

Meanwhile Rayman danced in his cell. 

Georg Prime transported into the area just in time. The Rabbids all stopped. "Daaaaaah!" they screamed upon seeing Georg. 

"Oh Hey Rabbids" He said.

"Daaaaah!"

"Oh I'm just here for Rayman"

That perked Raymans ears, as Ammy chewed on one of the Rabbids legs, and it screamed in agony.

He sprinkled the dust on Rayman, and sent him off. "Thanks Rabbids" Georg told them. He then called for Ammy, and was ready to go somewhere else. This was easy stuff, he wasn't sure why Lucretia needed a rest. But she had already done so much, he figured it must get tiring after a while. Even Ol' Georg gets tired after slaughtering ten billion enemies.

Ratchet was bored. Not much had been happening lately. Well, no Deplanetizers, no stolen projects, no army of aliens attacking, or anything like that anyway. So it was just boring. There wasn't even anything on television that was any good. Ratchet's life lacked in action. Clank was riding on his back, as he had done a lot of the time. When all of a sudden out of nowhere a Knight appeared. Along with a wolf. "Finally an adventure!" went through Ratchet minds, as the knight poured Travel Dust on him. Clank disappeared right along with him.

"Let's see.. that's seven down, and three to go." Georg said, looking at Ammy. Then they were whisked away to another world.

Meanwhile, in a strange world, a boy named Joe shouted out "Henshin A Go Go Baby!" and transformed into the super hero Viewtiful Joe. He could speed up time, slow down time, and he had an assortment of weapons. "My Fighting skills are Viewtiful!" he said to his audience.

Her performed some of those said moves on some of his enemies, taking them out. His audience cheered as they watched him beat up his enemies in fast motion, and then in slow. It was exciting for them.

"Dude, this is easy" Viewtiful joe said. He was confident that he'd have no trouble defeating any of them. Movieland would always be safe as long as he was around.

But then someone appeared, who Joe was worried he might have a little trouble with. Just a little. Georg Prime.

Viewtiful Joe slowed time down to fight this new enemy. But little did he know, this wasn't an enemy.

"Would you stop kicking me for a moment, and listen?" Georg said, impatient. "I'm not an enemy I'm here to invite you to a tournament."

"No way dude!" Viewtiful Joe said. "You're a bad guy!"

The audience cheered Joe on. Georg on the other hand, pulled some dust out of his pouch, and sprinkled it on Joe. "I never said you could decline".

Georg and Ammy were doing a remarkable job. Though this time was a little harder than the last. What else would be in store for them? There were only three contestants remaining that Georg needed to get.

Ryu Hayabusa sat patiently in his hotel room, waiting for him to show. _He_ was a ninja that had challenged Ryu to a duel to the death. He was also one of the better known Ninja, known mostly for his skills. Ryu wasn't worried though. If death were his fate, so be it. If victory was his fate, then it was as fine as well. There was no backing down from this challenge. It wasn't the Ninja way.

But the other Ninja was running late. Had something kept him? Or was he a coward that ran away? No. Not that Ninja. He wouldn't run away from a fight. Especially not one that he himself had issued. Something was wrong. Or maybe... it had to do with something else? Ryu wasn't sure. He couldn't be sure. But he had promised to wait right there in his room..

Ryu's blade was next to him, and he was ready to take it up in arms when the time came. The door opened slowly... and in appeared a man who obviously wasn't a Ninja.

"I'm here to invite you to a tournament of one hundred twenty eight people" Georg said, tired of saying it. It was bland. It needed spice. It needed.. cheesecake.

"I'm sorry, but I must decline sir. I'm waiting for an opponent" Ryu told the odd man.

"He didn't happen to be a Ninja like you, did he?" Georg asked.

"Yes, he did..." Ryu said.

"Oh, sorry about that. I killed him. He threw a couple of those little star things at me. Yeah I didn't like that. So I killed him" Georg said.

Ryu was shocked. This man had just killed the Ninja that had challenged him to a duel. No wonder he hadn't showed up yet. Ryu wasn't quite sure what to say. Was this the universes way of showing him that he had to live?

"I must join this tournament. I believe I am... destined" Ryu said.

"Alright. Sounds good to me, how about you Ammy?"

Amaterasu howled in agreement. Georg sprinkled travel dust on the ninja, and whisked him away. There were only two left, and they were both from the same world. Georg was a little emotional, because that meant he'd be separated from his new wolf pal. After thinking about it for a moment, he sprinkled the travel dust on the two of them, and moved on to the last of the ten.

"Oh Great! Just great! We're going to go jump into the burning pile of death over here, and you're all excited about it. What part of BURN-ING PILE OF DEATH do you not get Jak? Burning. Pile. Death." Daxter complained.

"We have to do it Dax" Jak said.

"We have to do it, he says. No, we don't HAVE to do it. Just like we didn't HAVE to do the hundred other dangerous things we've done today. And that's just today!"

"Come on Dax."

"Un-uh. No way. Not happening. Not now, not ever! I'm not doing it! You can't make me!"

"Think of the girls."

"Burning Pile of death and girls, or not burning pile of death, and no girls... decisions.. decisions... decisions."

"Come on Dax!"

"I'm thinking! I"m thinking. You know what. It's not worth it. No way. Not this time."

Jak was getting frustrated at his partner. They had to do this. Sure they had a choice in doing it. But it was a choice between what's right and wrong. It was the right thing to do. And the right thing to do is the only thing to do. It was too bad Daxter didn't see it that way. But he never did.

"You're going, and that's that!" Jak told his partner.

But before Jak could push Daxter into that burning pile of death, Georg Prime and Amaterasu appeared before them.

"Excuse me, Jak? Daxter? I"m here to invite you to a t..." Georg started.

But before he could say another word, Daxter Interupted. "WOuld we have to leave now?"

"Yes."

"Hmm well we do have to go through this burning pile of death right now... but I think we can make an exception for one" Daxter said, without realizing what he had gotten himself into. "So what are you inviting us to?"

"We're not going" Jak said.

"Won't you at least hear the man out?" Daxter said. "He's inviting us to something, and I really want to go."

"Well that's good" Georg said. "Anyway the two of you must participate in a tournament of one hundred twenty eight combatants".

"Wait... what? ehehehe. Did you just say fighting? Like fighting fighting. You know. The kind with the pain, and the more pain?" Daxter asked.

"Alright, we'll do it." Jak said.

"What is it with you and danger? You see a burning pit of death, you want to jump in it. Nice guy over here invites us to something, you say no. Until, that is you find out it involves fighting. FIGHTING. THE KIND WITH THE PAIN AND THE HURT! Did I fail to mention the pain and the hurt?"

"You're the one who wanted to go Dax. Besides would you rather take your chances in the burning pit of death? If so, fine by me"

"Alright, I'll go. I'll go. Geez." Daxter said.

And with that Georg sprinkled them both with Travel Dust, sending the final part of the ten back to the castle. He was done, and it wasn't too hard. But he worked up an apetite doing it. He'd enjoy those cheesecakes when he got back.

"Well Ammy. I hate to tell you this, but heres where we part ways" he said.

Georg bent over to pet the goddess on the head. "Promise me you'll come and visit"

Amaterasu gave a positive howl, indicating that she would. Georg then sprinkled the travel dust on her, sending her to the castle. Now to report to Lucretia. He sprinkled the dust on himself, and off he was.

Georg walked upstairs in Lucretias manor. She didn't stay here very much, and in fact barely stayed here at all. He knew exactly where she was, and though it was impolite, he went to see her. Lucretia was taking a bubble bath in the upstairs bathroom, relaxing the best that she could. Gathering all those contestants was hard work for her. Georg averted his eyes, as he gave her the report.

"I'm done. Now I'm going to go eat my cheesecake"

With that, he left the room. Lucretia sighed, realizing what this meant. She'd have to go back out and get more contestants. But after she finished her bubble bath.

By Cloud and Squall


	28. Leon, Ada, Jill, Chris, Wesker

**Prefic: Code Cain**

The Spencer Mansion. Where it had all began a little bit over six years ago. So much had happened since then. Raccoon City had since been obliterated by the United States Government. All that remained of the city, and the mansion, were ruins. Chris Redfield couldn't believe that he had returned to this place. But he knew that there was no other choice. Jill, Leon, and Ada were here too. But where was Claire? Chris figured that she wasn't coming. Perhaps that was for the best. But why was he here? For Umbrella Corporation no doubt. Albert Wesker was never up to any good, and he was likely here to find something out about the Cain Virus. The Cain virus was developed by a rival company to Umbrella. No, not a rival company, more like a company that admired Umbrella. That was a better way of putting it. The first five test subjects in Project: Eden had failed according to the file that was on record. But then there was Adam VI, and the experiment had been given life again. After watching Adam VI grow, Eve was cultivated. Years later, the two produced a son, Abel. This proved to be good for the scientists, but bad for mankind. Because following Abel was Cain. It was the test subject they had been looking for. They were able to cultivate the virus inside of Cain, they were able to completely drive him insane. Before long, as in the bible, Cain slew Able. The scientists were playing god, and they were doing a good job of it.

It's unsure what happened to the original Cain. But since then, more have been produced, and released here in Raccoon City for testing. Perhaps the most ideal place for testing, not only because Umbrella tested their own breed of zombies here six years ago, but because there were no people here. Nobody was in danger. Were they? Of course they were. They always were. And that always meant that the Zombies would multiply. Then S.T.A.R.S. would have to get involved. Just like they were now.

"Leon, you take the North" Chris instructed. "Jill, you take the east, and I'll take the west."

Splitting up was never a good idea, but they had no choice here. Because the zombies weren't like they were before. They were somehow smarter... they hid from those who would do them harm. They were almost... human. But they weren't. They couldn't be. Not with the things they did. They may have had human instincts, but they didn't have the one thing that makes humans, human- emotion. That was something they lacked.

While Jill went east, Chris west, and Leon North, Wesker headed south so that they wouldn't get in his way. Ada went off on her own, hoping to find whatever it was they could find there, before Wesker did.

Jill walked down the street towards the east side of Raccoon City. There wasn't much left of the city, it was all in rubble. Everything was destroyed, everything but her memories. She still remembered all the horrible things that had happened here six years ago. She remembered them vividly. And that's why she gripped her gun tighter than she ever had before in her life. Because she knew what was out here. She knew what they were capable of. She knew that hey could take her life at any given moment. These Zombies... they were smarter zombies. They weren't like the ones before. The ones before, they were scary enough. But these? They were taking things a little too far. It was never in a zombies nature to hide. It was always the people that did the hiding. But now, things were different. The Zombies were the ones that were hiding, but they were hiding and waiting. Waiting for Jill to make the wrong move. Each step she took, she kept an eye on all four cardinal directions. Nothing yet though... a couple of trashcans that were rattling. But the cats were causing that. Jill knew that it was cats, because of the way the trashcans moved. No zombie would be moving like that. Not even a zombie cat. She turned her flashlight on as it started getting darker. The moon wasn't quite as bright now as it had been before. She had to rely on her flashlight now.

The west side of Raccoon City was as bad as the east side, if not worse. As Chris entered one of the few remaining structures in the city, a strange feeling overcame him. It was as if the building had a memory, and as if it remembered being bombed six years ago. There wasn't much left inside. A couple of broken pots. Some tumbled over furniture that had since rotted. A broken picture frame, inside a picture of what was once a family. A father, a mother, two brothers, and one sister. They were all dead now probably. None of them had managed to survive, Chris was sure. He gripped his gun tighter, as he went around into what once was the kitchen. No zombies there either. He let his guard down a little bit. He shook his head. Hunting zombies... he never thought he'd be doing this again. He never thought he'd be doing this the first time either though. It always worked out like that. Chris looked up at what remained of the ceiling of what used to be the house he was standing in. He could see the night sky through the holes of the ceiling. Chris figured that this was perhaps the structure in best condition in the city now. He looked back towards the ground. Not much of a floor left either. The stairs? All broken up. He couldn't have gotten up them if he wanted to. If the Zombies were up there, they were safe. For now at least. But they'd come out eventually. If they were up there at all. But Chris figured he was just being paranoid.

Leon Kennedy had been down this road one too many times. Not this road physically of course, but the road riddled with many dangers. How many times had he clutched his gun in his hand, and walked down a dark street hunting the unknown? Too many times, that was for sure. This alley was darker than the others though. And perhaps more dangerous. The Zombies were different now, a lot different. Zombies? He could still remember a time where they were only in movies. Yeah, movies. He wished that's where they had stayed. Especially now, with his life in more danger than it had ever been before. He heard soft footsteps behind him. Could it be a zombie? No... the footsteps were too soft, and there were only two feet involved. Even smart Zombies would travel in packs. Or so he had hoped. If not Zombies, then what though? Wesker? Chris? Jill? He slowly turned around, and pointed his gun in the direction of the footsteps. No, it was Ada Wong beautiful as ever. Even in this dangerous place, she managed to look stunning in that red dress of hers.

"You scared me" he said.

"Sorry" Ada told him. "I didn't mean to. I just..."

"Aren't you looking for the virus?" he asked her, not trusting her.

Ada didn't respond right away. She knew Leon didn't trust her completely. How could he? It would've been foolish for him to. But she didn't need him to trust her. Not for this. Not now. She just needed him to help her find the Zombies. Albert? He'd never do it, she knew that. Chris? No way. He'd have probably shot her if she asked. And Jill? She'd have a better chance with Chris than her. But Leon? She figured he might be able to help her. Might.

Albert Wesker entered a building that was barely standing. There was no roof overhead, and everything was in a pile of rubble. Everything except a few books that were neatly placed, and a vial. This is what Wesker had come for. Unlike the others, he was here for a virus, not to stop the zombies. It was the last known sample of the virus. With this he could... Zombies? No. Two people. Jill, and Chris he assumed. The first walked softly, much like a woman. The second, more strongly, like a man. When Wesker turned around, he saw a man looking not too different from himself, though much bigger. And a woman who was in strange clothing. Very strange clothing.

"Well Lucretia, we made it here." Duke Nukem said.

Lucretia could hardly believe she asked Duke to come along. But who else could she have brought along that had a gun? Somewhere, HK-47 was probably shouting obscenities at that thought.

"Who the hell are you two?" Wesker asked.

"This here is Lady Lucretia Merces. And I"m Duke Nukem. Nice shades"

"Nice shades yourself" Wesker replied. "And what do you want?"

"We're here to invite you to a tournament of one-hundred twenty eight combatants." Lucretia explained.

"Sorry, I've got more important things to do" Wesker told them.

"The Lady, asked you to join the tournament" Duke said. "And she asked nicely. So you're going to do it before I ram my foot up your-"

"Duke!" Lucretia said, not liking his use of expletives. "If Mr. Wesker doesn't want to join, that's fine. I'll just tell the hosts of the tournament that Umbrella Corporation won't have a representative. Perhaps we can find an extra S.T.A.R.S. representative.."

"What do you know of Umbrella?" Wesker asked.

"Enough" Lucretia said. "But I suppose if they don't want a representative in.."

"I'll do it" Wesker said without hesitation. If the woman knew about Umbrella then...

Lucretia sprinkled travel dust on Wesker, and whisked him away to the castle. "Let's find the others quickly. I'm a little worried"

Chris left the tattered building, and went back to searching the streets. Nothing there. A dozen of them could've popped out of any moment. And really, that's how Chris would've preferred it. He'd rather have a straight out fight, than some match of hiding go seek. It wasn't that he was at a disadvantage. If was that if there was anything he hated more than anything else about fighting, it was waiting. That was the worst part of it all. As he walked down what remained of the western half of Raccoon City, he heard a scream coming from the other side. It was Jill! Chris ran quickly, dropping his flashlight as he ran towards the scream. His gun was still tight in his hand. Had Jill seen a zombie? Was she okay? Many thoughts crossed his mind as he ran towards Jill. As he reached the east side of Raccoon City, he called out for Jill. "Jill, are you there?". No answer. This worried Chris. Not that Jill couldn't handle herself, but nobody had dealt with these Zombies before. And then...

"I'm okay Chris" Jill said.

Then he saw her walking towards him, with two people behind them. The first was Albert Wesker? No... He was bigger, had a shorter haircut than Wesker. And the second was.. some strange looking woman. He wasn't sure who either of them were.

"This is Lucretia Merces, and Duke Nukem" Jill explained. "They've invited us to a tournament of one hundred twenty eight people. Umbrella has a representative, so I think we should go"

"What about the Zombies?"

"Let the government handle them. They did last time" Jill said.

"Alright, fine. But can we get Leon out of here first?"

"He's invited too" Jill told him. "And... her."

Jill didn't like Ada Wong very much. She wasn't sure what it was about her, but she knew she couldn't trust her. Especially where Leon was concerned. Unlike Jill, Leon had some trust for Ada, and that worried Jill a lot. More than any zombies could.

"Should we send em' back to the castle Lucretia?" Duke asked.

"No, we should stick together" Lucretia said.

"I'm enough protection for you" He said.

"It's better to stick together, if you want to complain, I'll send you back instead"

"No complaints here Lady Merces".

The four of them rushed off to the north sector of Raccoon City. This was where Lucretia expected the zombies to be. Her strategical mind gave her insight to what others might be planning, even Zombies. And her insight usually paid off. And this time it did.

"Chris, shoot through that window up there" Lucretia said.

"What?"

"Just do it!" She commanded him.

He fired his weapon at the window up above. It was about the only thing left of the building. After firing his weapon, the window shattered, and a Zombie fell from the second story. How did she know he was there? He didn't have time to ask her.

"Chris, you and Duke go down this street to the right. Jill, you take the street to the left. I want you to hold your positions. Do not move, if you don't want to get killed. Otherwise, by all means move as much as you want" Lucretia told them.

Lucretia started to walk towards the other end of the North. But Duke had an objection. "Lady Merces it's dangerous!"

"Just stay where you are Duke, and I'll be safe" she assured him.

Lucretia continued walking towards the end of the dark path, and eventually she ran into Leon and Ada. There, she'd put the rest of her plan into action.

"Leon Kennedy, Ada Wong, I"m here to invite you to a tournament of one hundred twenty eight people." She began.. "Your friends have joined. I'd explain more, but first we need to save your friends'

She signaled Leon to go to the right, where Duke and Chris were. She and Ada would go to the left. She asked Ada for a gun, and Ada supplied it. But Lucretia wasn't quite sure how to use it.

"I think I Know how this works... but"

"Pull the trigger" Ada said.

Lucretia had surmised as much. Technology... so utterly simple. So unrefined. not that it mattered. Strategy was a better weapon than anything. Lucretia then explained her plan to Ada.

"We're going to push the Zombies towards Jill, as Leon pushes them towards Chris and Duke. By doing that, we limit how well they can hide. If I've calculated everything correctly, we can all run towards the center street after about two minutes of gunfire. Three minutes tops. Then we'll have a chance to transport back to the castle just in time to avoid being Zombie food"

It was a simple plan, but sometimes those were the best ones. Maybe not one of Lucretia's better plans, but she had after all just come up with it.

Leon walked towards the Zombies, shooting at them, and at the same time Lucretia and Ada did the same. Though Lucretia wasn't of much help at all, she was enough to push the Zombies back at the same rate as Leon was on his side. Meanwhile Duke and Chris held their positions, and shot at the zombies, and Jill did the same. Though she hated cooperating with Ada, she knew she had to for now. There wasn't much choice for her in the matter. After about two minutes, Lucretia called out to everyone. "Make your way to the central street" she shouted. Everybody heard her, and made their dash. Before the zombies even got close to them, she was able to sprinkle travel dust on all of them. Even herself. Safe, at last.

by Cloud and Squall


	29. Yuna, Rikku, Tidus, Auron

**Prefic: Final Fantasy**

Yuna looked sexy in her gunner outfit, but then again lately she had always looked sexy. She always had a smile on her face, at least ever since she defeated Sin. But behind that smile was sadness. She missed Tidus more than anything. But she couldn't let the people know that, she was High Summoner Yuna. If she was sad, the people would be sad too. And Yuna didn't want that. So no matter how much she hurt on the inside... no matter how much pain she had to bear.. she would smile. She was a lot stronger than she looked. The way she kept her emotions under control... not many people in Spira could do that. But if Spira knew how much she hurt... because they loved her so much, they would try to find a way to take that hurt away. Because that's what she did for them. She took away their pain, their grief, their sorrow. She cast it all away. And not for a period of ten years like the calm. No, she got rid of sin forever. Most considered her the greatest summoner in history for her actions. Considering that she was the last, it was likely that she'd be considered the greatest for eternity.

But Rikku could see the sadness in Yunas eyes. She was the only one who could. Not even Wakka, and Lulu could see it. They could sense it perhaps, but they never thought beyond it. Rikku too had grown sexier, more womanly since they had defeated Sin. Guys had started to notice her lately. Not that she cared too much about them. She was too concerned about her cousin, Yuna. She knew how much Yuna missed Tidus, and Rikku missed Tidus too. Maybe not as much as Yuna, but more than anybody else did. Rikku was very selfless in her care for Yuna. She'd have traded places with Tidus if she could, just to make Yuna happy again. But that wasn't' possible. It didn't work that way. Things never did seem to work out the way you wanted them to. Summoners had to give up their lives, and the lives of the people they cared about most to get rid of sin. People had to be prejudiced against Al-bhed because they used Machina that were forbidden by the religion that helped keep Sin alive for all those years. Nobody had before them ever tried to find another way. Not even the Al-bhed who refused Yevons teachings. Only Tidus, who came from the dream world could find another way. Perhaps because he was guided, or perhaps because of the way he lived.

"Oui secc Tidus tuh'd oui?" Rikku asked, speaking in Albhed so nobody else could understand their conversation. Because that's what Yuna wanted. Nobody else to know her sadness. She didn't even really want Rikku to know it.

"Uv luinca." Yuna responded.

"Ra'c uid drana. Cusafrana. Ra ryc du pa." Rikku assured her.

But was it true? Rikku didn't know for sure. She just wanted to ease Yunas sadness. Of course she wanted it to be true... she hoped for it to be true. But she couldn't be certain. How could she be?

"Ev drana fyc y fyo du pnehk res pylg, fuimt oui tu ed?" a strange feminine voice asked.

Rikku and Yuna turned around, to find a blonde woman speaking to them. Was she AlBhed? No... she didn't look it. So how did she know what they were saying? And how did she creep up behind them so easily?

"Ed'c hud hela du mecdah eh uh bnejyda luhjancydeuhc." Rikku told her.

"Yhcfan dra xiacdeuh." Lucretia told them.

Yuna was tired of speaking in Albhed. If this woman was speaking the truth.. she wanted to hear it. "Of course!"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lucretia Merces. And I have a way to bring Tidus back temporarily. But, there is a catch"

There always was a catch. And for temporarily? No. Even for just a moment, Yuna would take it. She'd climb the highest mountains, and traverse the deepest sea just to be able to see him for another second. There was no question she was going to do what Lucretia asked. But what was she going to ask?

"You must agree to join a tournament. Both of you. Tidus will be part of the tournament as well, as will another person you know"

Who was she speaking of? Yuna didn't care. But at the same time, she wasn't so sure of herself. She'd do anything for Tidus... but she couldn't expect Rikku to do anything for him. That would be wrong. She glanced over at Rikku, who was jumping up and down excitedly. Much to Yuna's surprise, Rikku wanted to do.

"Let's do it Yunie!" Rikku shouted.

"But first, can you tell me where you're from?" Yuna asked. "Besaid perhaps?"

"I'm from another world" Lucretia explained. "But that's not important now. We must get to the place you call the farplane. That's where will pick up Tidus. And the other from your world".

Yuna was concerned about who that other someone could be. Seymour Guado perhaps? She never wanted to see Seymour ever again. But if it meant seeing Tidus... she'd do it.

The Farplane was an oddly empty place. There was nobody there, nobody except Rikku, Yuna, and Lucretia. Before Sin was defeated, many people came to the farplane to see the souls of their loved ones. But now? People didn't really go there much anymore. Not as much as they used to anyway. Because they no longer had any reason to be sad. At least not all of the time. Most of them moved on with their lives. That was really for the best. Holding on to the past... can be painful after all.

"I need you to focus your thoughts on Tidus" Lucretia instructed Rikku and Yuna.

Yunas thoughts were always on Tidus. She didn't need instruction to do so.. she remembered a very powerful memory, perhaps the most powerful memory she had within her soul. The memory so close to her heart wasn't a happy memory... but a sad one. She remembered watching as the summon spirits disappeared... remembered watching the people of the dream Zanarkand disappear. She remembered when Tidus' arms began to disappear. She remembered when he said that he had to go. She remembered when he apologized for not being able to show her his Zanarkand, remembered when he said goodbye. She remembered when she passed through Tidus. She remembered.. telling him she loved him. She remembered as he held her for one last time. It was a memory that resided eeply within her heart, and it was the memory that called to him more than any other.

Right before her eyes... Tidus materialized. was she dreaming? Was this real? She reached out to touch him. He reached out to her. As they touched, Yuna knew she wasn't dreaming, and if she was she never wanted to wake up. But he was real... somehow he was real. She didn't know how Lucretia had done it. But she wanted to think the woman from another world. Right now if Lucretia asked her anything, she'd say yes. That's when her heart sunk however. She remembered it was only temporary. For how long would she be with Tidus? No... that didn't matter. What mattered was that he was here now. That he was standing in front of her, holding her. That's all that mattered. Nothing more than that. Whatever Lucretia wanted... when Tidus would disappear again... it didn't matter. It couldn't matter. Because he was there. He was there, and he was real. If even only for a moment, he was with her. And that made her heart smile the biggest smile her heart could show. She turned to Lucretia to thank her for this.

"Thank you" Yuna said, barely able to let the words pass from her lips, from happiness.

"You don't need to thank me. Auron here was the one who told me how to do it" Lucretia said.

Auron... her guardian, and her fathers guardian. He was now standing next to Lucretia... but how? How was it possible? No. She would not question it. If Tidus was here.. then so could be Auron too.

"I'm glad Hades agreed to let you come for a visit" Lucretia said. "I was worried there for a moment".

"Even Hades has his price" Auron said. "Everybody does".

"Now tell us about this tournament.." Yuna said.

"Ahh yes. That. I require that the four of you take place in a tournament of one hundred twenty eight combatants" Lucretia explained. "Auron here has already agreed to it. So long as you stay in the world where the tournament is held, I can guarantee that Tidus will not disappear... but beyond that I am afraid I can make no promises. We are not powerful enough to control worlds"

Yunas smile did not fade. Joining the tournament would mean that Tidus would be around. If fighting was all it would take... she would fight. Yuna nodded to Lucretia, signaling that she'd join the tournament. Lucretia smiled back.

"Let's do it Yunie!" Rikku shouted, excited.

Lucretia walked over to Rikku, pouring a bit of Travel Dust over her. Rikku disappeared before their eyes. Next was Auron, she sprinkled dust over him as well. All that was left was Yuna and Tidus.

"You two..." Lucretia said, as Yuna and Tidus looked at her. "Here take this dust. Be sure to think Arx Veneficus Oraculum when you use it, and you will find your way to the tournament. You deserve a little alone time before you go"

With that Lucretia sprinkled dust over herself, and disappeared, leaving Tidus and Yuna alone. They'd go to the tournament... but for now they just wanted to be with each other. Just for a little while. Just for a little longer...

By Cloud and Squall


	30. Kratos

**Prefic: You see this cat Kratos is a bad mother—**

_**Shut your mouth!**_

"Zeus! Do you see now what your son can do?!" Ares cried to the heavens. He had just destroyed Athens to prove to his father Zeus that he was better than his pathetic sister Athena, and his servant Kratos had brought him Pandora's box.

Kratos, however, was not amused. He was going to use Pandora's box to gain the power to defeat a God: his "master," Ares. The God of War had fooled Kratos into killing his wife and child, and he had been filled with hate for the giant he was now looking up at for ten long years. Ten years of serving the Gods, and being haunted by the screams of his family, their white ashes forever bound to his skin.

Kratos summoned a bolt of lightning that Zeus had bestowed upon him, and aimed for the chain that Ares was holding: The chain that was attached to Pandora's box. Break the chain, jump for the box, use it to destroy Ares. This would have to go without a hitch, or he could end up a bloody smear like the rest of Athens.

He readied the bolt, waited for the perfect opportunity, and...

"That's not going to work, you know," came a voice from behind him. Kratos spun around, the bolt disappearing in his hand, to face a beautiful blonde woman. "They're going to kill you. The Gods, that is. They don't want you, they just want you to kill Ares."

"Lies!" Kratos yelled, pulling his blades out, "How would you know?! Who are you?!"

"I'm Batman!" Lucretia laughed.

"More lies! You are not a man, and you certainly do not resemble a bat! What are you, a demon? A servant of the God?"

"No, no Kratos, I'm much more than that." she whispered.

"Oh, Kratos, is this your new lover? A love-child, perhaps?" came the booming voice of Ares from behind Kratos.

"Quiet yourself, monster!" Kratos roared back up, "I do not know who she is, but she claims she's much more than a God, and-"

The woman held up a strange, L-Shaped device made of four blocks. "Bam!" she yelled.

---

"That's the signal! Now!" Duke yelled, turning from his binoculars.

"FIRE HEAD IS ON HIS WAY TO DESTRUCTION" CATS laughed in his mechanical voice as he slammed his fist on a large red button.

---

There was a deafening mechanical screech, and from above behind Ares turned, and a huge laser assaulted him from the back, blast after blast, until Ares became unconscious, and fell onto the city he had just destroyed. Kratos turned to Lucretia, awestruck.

"So... you wanna come with me, escape the Gods for now, get some of my unbelievable power, and return ready to face the Gods?" she asked.

"What must I do?" Kratos asked, still unsure.

"Simply compete in a tournament, slaughter some mortals as you do oh-so-well, then you get this!" she said as she spun the L-Block through her fingers.

---

"Hey! She's offering him my L-Block! Damn, that's mine!" Duke yelled as he threw his binoculars to the ground.

"Query: Didn't you just see what happened? It wasn't the L-Block, it was this Zig cannon." HK-47 responded.

"Just a show, she didn't want to kill that God, using the L-Block would be too much! Stupid tin can, on a T-800-level of AI and he can't even get his weapons of mass destruction down right."

"Action: Sigh." HK-47 said as he pulled out a bag full of dust.

---

"I'll go. Where is this tournament? The Colosseum of Rome?" Kratos asked.

"No, somewhere much more interesting..." Lucretia murmured as she pulled out another bag.

By ZenOfThunder


	31. Mega Man, Zero

**Prefic: Divide By...**

Dr. Wily savagely kicked over his writing desk, scattering half- drawn blueprints and half-baked plans across the floor. Picking up a simple wrench, a tool he had so often used to create, he smashed the desk over and over, until the wood split open. Then he turned on his gigantic glass containers, the ones he had used to house his inventions. Eight of them. There were always eight of them. The tubes were designed to keep the Robots Masters safe, shielding them from possible electronic or viral interference in the early stages of development, but what did it matter? It never helped. Dr. Wily smashed the containers into pieces, not caring when one jagged piece broke off and cut his leg. He smashed the glass until it was nothing but semi-fine powder on the floor.

Then he did something he had never done before: Dr. Wily, terror of the world, calmly sat in a chair and wept. He was just so tired. Every time he tried one of his plans to take over the world, every time he would always get so close, only to be thwarted by the exact same hero time and time again. He heard a laugh in front of him, his head jerked up, it was him! He was here! Dr. Wily let out an inhuman scream and threw is wrench at Mega Man, only for it to pass through the robot as if he were a ghost. Or not there at all. A moment later, Dr. Light's pride and joy vanished.

I'm losing my mind, he realized. Or had he lost it long ago? It didn't really matter now. Dr. Wily composed himself, taking a deep breath before folding his hands in his laps. Logic was what he needed now. Wonderful, pure, simple logic. Now, then. He was an inventor, a creator of wonderful things. Rather than beat people into submission, he used his ingenious brain to think of ways for others to do it for him. But if he was losing his mind, his prized possession, the only weapon he had, then what would he ever accomplish?

Dr. Wily stood up, dusting off his white labcoat. The conclusion was obvious: he would never rule the world. Even if he somehow accomplished it, he would probably be completely insane by then. His long battle had been lost. Dr. Wily managed to find a black sheet of paper, and started to draw diagrams and calculations on it. If he would never rule the world, then he wouldn't let anyone else have it either. He wouldn't go down without making sure Dr. Light and his accursed blue wonder suffered for it. They had no idea how truly brilliant he was, how often he had held back in his creations, for if he created a robot too powerful, he wouldn't be able to contain it, and it would eventually wind up destroying the world. But that hardly mattered now, did it?

This would be his final creation. He would go out with a bang, and the world would remember the name Dr. Wily – at least it would until the robot killed them all. In the end, there would be nothing left. Zero people, Zero robots, and Zero Dr. Light.

"You're supposed to be the smartest person in this world? You seem more like an old man on his last legs to me." Dr. Wily whirled around, wondering if his secret lair had at last been discovered. Instead of Dr. Light and his pet, though, he saw a blonde-haired woman, standing next to a robot. The robot seemed very familiar. Dr. Wily peered at it, and gasped. This was exactly how he had just envisioned his last invention to be. But how…it was another hallucination, surely. "Leave me," Dr. Wily commanded. "I have work to do." The woman gave a sly grin. Dr. Wily hated it when anyone but himself did that. "Why, I go to the trouble of bringing your invention to you, so you don't even have to make it, and all you do is complain?" Dr. Wily ignored her, staring at the robot, trying to take in every minute detail. It would make designing it easier, probably, although the robot seemed to be deactivated.

Then, it stirred. The robot's eyes snapped open, and it hastily looked around until its eyes fell on Lucretia. "You! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. Where have you taken…" the robot fell silent as it took in its surroundings. The lab. The containers. The W-shaped insignias he had been so fond of. And finally, the doctor himself. The blonde-haired woman smiled and reached into a pouch. She pulled out some dust, then, against all the laws of science, disappeared. That settled it; this was surely a hallucination.

"You…" the robot began. "You're the cause of…everything. I don't know how I got here, but I'll make sure you never end up creating me!" A light-green sword materialized in the robot's hand. Dr. Wily was stunned; not by the sword, but by the heat in the air he had felt when it had appeared. The tip of the sword was touching his battered writing desk, and it seemed to be burning a hole through it. This was real.

In the moment before he was cut in two, Dr. Wily felt a surge of happiness. This robot had incredible power, all the power he had envisioned for it. Now that it was here, the world would be within ruins in a matter of weeks. He had done it, he had gotten the last laugh.

Miles away, Dr. Light briefed Mega Man. "Mega Man, there have been reports of explosions coming from one of the locations we suspected Dr. Wily may have been hiding. I think it would be a good idea if you checked it out." The Blue Bomber nodded. "You got it, Dr. Light!" Mega Man, always prepared for combat, waited as Dr. Light prepped the teleporter machine. As usual, he felt regret at not being able to take his newly-acquired abilities, but he knew that it was for the best. Dr. Light took his weapon modifications and turned them into EMP-waves that would instantly disable the robot master if Dr. Wily ever decided to use repeats of them. "All set, Mega Man!" Mega Man felt his particles being changed, turned into a beam of light, that was transferred to his destination via wavelengths in the air. Whatever was causing the disturbances, he was going to meet it.

Zero stood on top of the rubble that was one Dr. Wily's laboratory, mildly tired and very confused. He knew that Dr. Wily was his creator, the one who had built him and installed the virus into him that ended up causing the outbreak of Mavericks. If he was dead, then time should have changed. He should have ceased to exist. Why wasn't anything happening?

"You! What do you think you're doing?" Zero turned around to find himself looking at …X? No, he looked different. If he was in the past, than this must be X's previous model, the one that had also stood up against evil robots. Just plain old Mega Man. "I am called Zero. As to what I have been doing, you should be thanking me. Dr. Wily is no more." The face that had been so eager to right wrongs and stop the bad guys was suddenly assaulted with a lot of different feelings. Mega Man looked surprised, then happy, then sad, then just blank. "You…killed Dr. Wily?" "Yes, he did what you lacked the nerve to do." Zero turned to see the blonde-haired woman he had encountered earlier, arriving out of nowhere. How did she do that?

"I believe I owe you some explanations. My name is Lucretia, and I am inviting both of you to a tournament of 128 fighters." Zero waited, expecting more, but she was silent. That hardly cleared up anything. Fortunately, Mega Man broke the silence. "I can't go with you! The world needs me to protect them from…oh." Mega Man cut himself off, remembering what had just happened. Lucretia gave a sly grin. "Yes, I knew you would never come if Dr. Wily still threatened your world. So I had someone remove him for you." Zero stared. Had he been so easily set up? "You!" he shouted. "I know that Dr. Wily was the one who created me, and that I caused the eventual decline of the world. Why hasn't anything changed? He never got a chance to create me!" Zero was so focused on Lucretia that he didn't notice Mega Man looking at him with a new sense of understanding and cautiousness.

Lucretia sighed, and pulled out a small pouch. "I made it so that even if you prevented your creation, you would still exist. I do need you for the tournament. As for your world…well, see for yourself." Before either of them could react, she blew some dust at them, and the world vanished.

Destruction. Desolation. Toppled buildings everywhere, a mere memory of what had once been. "What, what is this place?" Mega Man cried out, even though he thought he knew the answer. Beside him, Zero had a blank look on his face as he stared at the ruins of the city, then looked Lucretia straight in the eyes. "You said you made it so that I would survive time. Why did you make it so that my world wouldn't change either?" Lucretia shook her head. "I did nothing. This is your world. You think you single-handedly caused the Mavericks to take over? It was already happening. You just sped up the process." Zero felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. If he had a stomach. "So then…there's no hope for my time?"

Lucretia shook her head once again. "I can make your world peaceful again, I can eradicate the Mavericks, but only if you accept my offer to join the tournament. Both of you." Zero looked at Mega Man, and they both nodded. At this point, Zero felt as he took one last look at the wasteland, they had nothing left to lose.

By KamikazePotato


	32. Laharl

**Prefic: Overlord's Day Off**

Etna sat on her plush chair, thumbing through the latest issue of Death and Style magazine, as explosions perforated the silence. It was always most fun to read while listening to the Prince's antics. Ooh, the new Longicolnis spear was out, with 3000 more Attack power than before.

"Blazing Knuckle!" Laharl screamed, as he crashed into a group of demons. The ones that weren't instantly vaporized were either blown back, or caught on fire and started comically running in circles.

"Hahahahaha! Now do you know the true power of an Overlo- Hey! Where are you all going!?" Truly enough, now they all did know the true power of an Overlord. And now they were doing anything any sane demon would do when faced with that power: fun away.

"Hey! You challenged me, remember!? I order you to get back here and finish what you started!" All of the demons stopped, and slowly turned around. Some of the demons were large, fearsome, ancient dragons with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. Some were magically-powered golems, made to keep going long after everyone else was dead. Some were large metal monsters, with fire for hair and a sword almost as large as their body. Laharl was small boy in shorts, a long, flowing scarf, and a sword. All of the demons were trembling, more than one was crying.

Laharl grinned. One lesser-hearted demon fainted. "That's more like it." Laharl jumped up into the air, hovering there as he gathered up power. "Take this! Overlord's Wrath!" Gigantic balls of energy crashed down onto the demons, instantly vaporizing every last one of them.

"Hahahahaha! That was too easy. They should've known better than to challenge and Overlord!" "Yes, very impressive. But do you always talk to yourself?" Laharl looked around, until he saw a blonde-haired woman standing on the ashes of the demons he had just killed. Had he missed one? No, she was a human. She hadn't been here before.

"Have you come to challenge me as well?" The humans hook her head. "No, I've come to invite you to a tournament of 128 fights from across the multiverse." She grinned. "Think about it. You'll be fighting the strongest from a lot of different dimensions. Wouldn't you rather be Overlord of the Multiverse instead of Overlord of the Netherworld?"

Laharl thought about it for a second. It sounded like a great idea, but he couldn't exactly leave Etna in charge. She'd brainwash everyone into being her vassals instead of us. So…"Flonne!" He called out, not wanting to go through the trouble of walking down the corridor to tell her. "I'm leaving for a while. You're in charge while I'm gone." Laharl heard Flonne's "Oh, okay" and something else that sounded like a magazine being torn in half.

Laharl looked at the blonde-haired woman again, matching her grin with his own. "Overlord of the Multiverse, you say? I like the sound of that."

By KamikazePotato


	33. Zidane, Vivi

**Prefic: Last Chance**

Zidane and Vivi sat in a field of grass, staring at the sky. Neither of them said a word. They had done this many times before, just sat back and enjoyed life. Another time it might have been a fun and relaxing occasion, but this time it was accompanied by a sense of dread.

Vivi had wanted to know. Zidane had tried to talk him out of it, had told him that it didn't matter, that he should just try and enjoy life. It didn't work. Vivi wanted to know how long he had left before he stopped moving. Every Black Mage created had a defect that made them stop moving after being alive for one year. Vivi, the prototype, had lasted much longer.

Zidane had come with him to help him search. How couldn't he? Vivi was his friend. They had looked through old places where Kuja had done his research, and after a while, had found a general answer. They didn't know exactly how long he would last, but Vivi didn't have much time left.

A week? A day? An hour? Zidane didn't know, and it tore at him. He would do anything to make sure his friend lived on, but for all their searching, they hadn't found an answer. Kuja hadn't been very interested in finding ways for the Black Mages to live longer.

What do you say to someone who was going to die very soon, knew it, and had no way to stop it? Zidane didn't know, and the silence was beginning to be too much for him. Just as he was about to say something, anything, Vivi stood up.

"Zidane, it's okay." Zidane waited for Vivi to grab his hat, a telltale sign that he was nervous, but he didn't. "It's okay. I lived a good life. I got to live longer than any of the other Black Mages did, and I should be thankful for that. I got to meet friends like you. So please, don't be upset. It's okay."

Zidane jumped up, suddenly full of energy. "But…I don't want you to die, Vivi. It's unfair. You've always been the nicest person to everyone. Everyone likes you. You're one of my best friends. If I could find a way to keep you from dying, any way at all, I'd do it in an instant!"

"Can I hold you to that?" A blonde-haired woman stepped in front of them. Zidane had never seen her before. How did she get here so fast? "I have a proposition for you. If you accept, I'll tell you how to keep your friend here from 'stopping'." Filled with hope that had died long ago, Zidane ran up to the woman. "What is it? Do you really know? Tell me!" The woman took a step backward, as if she expected him to jump her. "If you want me to tell you, accept my invitation. You've been invited to take part in a tournament of 128 fighters. Come, and I might be able to help you."

Zidane shook his head. "128? Vivi will be dead by the time something that big is finished. We need a solution right now." The woman smiled. "Oh, but I already have taken care of that. Vivi will currently live a normal amount of time, just like everyone else." Zidane looked at Vivi. His face, even though it seemed to consist only of darkness and yellow eyes, always seemed to convey emotion perfectly. And right now, Vivi was stunned. "I…I don't feel any different." "That is the wonder of it, Vivi. Life isn't a specific emotion or feeling. It just is. Now, if you want me to tell you how to make it permanent, come with me. Otherwise, when I leave, you'll go back to being a doll with a timer on it."

And that, thought Zidane, was no decision at all.

By KamikazePotato


	34. Sora, Riku, Roxas, Axel

**Prefic: Existance**

Axel was in nothingness. Or maybe he wasn't, considering he couldn't actually feel anything. Was it the normal 'Nobodies can't feel stuff' feeling or the 'there's actually nothing here' feeling? He couldn't tell. He would've opened his eyes to check out his surroundings, but he was pretty sure he didn't have eyes. Or surroundings.

Was this where nobodies went when they died? Died in the loosest sense of the word, as Nobodies didn't actually exist, so they couldn't die, or go anyplace if they did. He'd always been told that, but never quite believed it. Until now.

He tested various thing. He didn't have arms, or legs, or a body, and if he did he couldn't see, hear, or feel them, as he didn't have eyes or ears. Or did he? This place was confusing. All he was sure of were his thoughts, his own being of self. So that's what he concentrated on.

Axel thought. He thought hard. It wasn't easy to think of things in this place. His thought seemed loose and scattered, as if his brain had been opened up and all his thoughts had been allowed to roam free. He was pretty sure he had been here for a while, but everything else was fuzzy. He really only had one question: where did he go from here?

Suddenly, everything changed. He had arms, legs, eyes, ears, a body, a self. He could see his surroundings, the beautiful island paradise, hear the waves, smell the salt, feel the sand. And he could understand what had happened. He had died, and now he was alive again. But how?

"You're stronger than I thought, holding on to your sense of self like that. I'm glad you did, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to bring you back." Axel looked at his rescuer, a blonde-haired woman who looked very smug. "You saved me?" Axel asked. She nodded. "…Why?" The woman laughed. "You're different. From what I'd heard about this world, everyone's very naïve about things, but it looks like there's at least one person who looks for reasons beyond good intentions."

"Axel!" Axel turned around to see Sora and Riku, Sora looking happy to see him, and Riku looking wary and cautious. "You're alive!" Axel grinned and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am. You can thank her for that." Sora walked up to the woman, smiling. "Thanks for helping Axel, lady. How did you do it?" The woman laughed again, this time with a bit inflection of smugness than before. "Please, call me Lucretia. And don't thank me yet. I've come here to take something very precious from you."

Sora's happy face instantly became one of anger. He drew his keyblade and assumed a fighting stance, keeping his distance from Lucretia. "What do you want? We…we don't…" Sora trailed off and clutched his chest. His hand started shaking so much that he dropped his keyblade. Riku rushed forward to steady him as he fell backward. "Sora? Are you okay? Sora!" There was a flash of light, and Sora and Riku were sent flying back. And on the ground where Sora had just been, was Roxas.

"You see, there's a tournament of 128 fighters I'm hosting." Lucretia began, as Roxas warily stood up and took in the surroundings. All of you were invited. All four of you. Since Roxas had merged with Sora, I had to separate them." She turned to Axel, and then to Roxas. "I can make both of you whole, both of you exist completely, but only if you come with me." Roxas, looking confused, glanced at Axel. Axel shrugged and nodded. She hadn't done anything to hurt them so far.

"You can count us out!" Riku yelled, still supporting Sora. "We don't have any reason to go with you!" Lucretia's smile disappeared, and was replaced with a grim face of determination. "I'm sorry, but the offer cannot be refused." She looked at Axel again. "If you want to exist, I need them as well." Axel glanced at Sora, who was still unconscious, and sighed. "Sorry, kid." He materialized his chakrams and struck at Riku the same moment Roxas did.

By KamikazePotato


	35. Mario and Pals

**Prefic: Last Place**

**Featuring Mario, Luigi, Peach, DK, Yoshi, Wario, Bowser and Toad.****  
**

The racers lined up in a strange 4 by 2 set-up, waiting for the light to turn from red, to yellow, and then to green, hoping to push the accelerator at the precise moment it turned green to get a random boost of speed at the beginning. In the front were Diddy and Donkey Kong, having won the very long and drawn out 7-way Rock-Paper-Scissors contest. Behind them were Bowser and Toad, with Bowser continuously edging near Toad, making him nervous. Behind them were Mario and Peach, edging near each other for different reasons. And in the very back row were Wario, Luigi, and Yoshi in the back of Luigi's kart. Wario had been disqualified early on for cheating (apparently no one was stupid enough to believe making the Victory sign with your fingers trumps all), Luigi hadn't even bothered to compete, not wanting to put himself that close to Bowser, and Yoshi had just decided to pair up with whoever ended up with the biggest disadvantage, as there were more racers that kart spots.

Beep, the light turned red. Beep, the light turned yellow. Beep the light turned green. All the karts slowly started forward, except for Diddy's, who was the only one who got the mysterious speed boost. His joy was short-lived, as he immediately veered to the left and crashed into a wall. As everyone sped by him, he tried to gather his senses, only to realize that he was still moving. Not only was the steering wheel stuck so that he would continuously turn left, but the accelerator pedal also stuck. Not wanting to resign himself to endlessly turning in circles, Diddy bailed out of the kart, wondering who had sabotaged his kart.

The other racers were already halfway done with the first lap. Luigi got lucky and managed to snag a Thunderbolt item, which Yoshi used to zap the other racers. Not only were they shocked, but they all shrunk in size. Luigi plowed over them (literally) and quickly secured a spot in first place, only to be hit by a Blue Shell that exploded around him and Toad, who had been trying to catch up and was too close to Luigi and Yoshi at the time.

Lucretia sighed, watching a video monitor of the race. My normal standards it was entertaining, but she had seen a lot more interesting things in her travels. Her plan would work either way – Diddy was already out of the race, showing that her changes to the karts had worked – so couldn't she spice the race up a bit while she waited?

Mario zoomed through an item box, hoping for a Thunderbolt or Blue Shell to help put him back in the race. What he got was something that he had never seen before, which was impossible, considering they only made changes to the game once every 3 years or so. The icon for the item was a red circle, and nothing else. Mario activated the item, waiting for something to shoot out of the front of his car, or for an explosion, or something. Nothing happened. Mario sighed, unhappy that his item hadn't helped at all. Then he yelped, jerking his hands off the steering wheel. It was hot. Really hot.

All throughout the track, racers yelped, taking their hands off the steering wheel, then putting them back on the steering wheel as they careened out of control, then taking them off again. It was a vicious cycle that only Bowser was able to avoid, as he was already used to hot things, allowing him to keep his hands on the wheel longer. This changed when a voice could suddenly be heard coming from the steering wheel, reading out passages from Bowser's Secret Journal. Bowser ripped off the steering wheel and threw it out of the course, only to realize that he now had no good way to steer, forcing him to try and steer with his weight.

This happened for the rest of the race. Karts filled up with banana peels, the accelerator speed became erratic, a coconut gun fell out of the glove compartment of DK's kart, the steering wheel cooled down only to lock and not be able to be steered at all (which, incidentally, made Diddy Kong's kart finally drive in a set direction and crash into Toad). Finally, the seven racers slowly edged toward the finish line. They carefully avoided the item boxes, as any item, they received was now automatically activated. They were almost to the finish line when Peach brushed an item box. They all stopped, waiting in horror to see what would happen, but the item that appeared was used instantly, so they didn't get a look at what it was. They waited…waited…and nothing happened. Wanting to end the race, they all sped toward the finish line at the same time, only to all crash into a brick wall that rose out of the ground at the same time.

As the party ball that signified the end of a race lowered, a voice echoed throughout the track. "Congratulations! You all won…or lost, really…at the same time, which means you all get the honor of being under the party ball!" Looking up, the racers noticed that the party ball did seem bigger than usual. It opened up and showered Travel Dust all over them, except for Diddy, who was chasing after his still in-motion kart.

By KamikazePotato


	36. Banjo

**Prefic: A Bear and his Bird**

Loud snoring sounds came out of the cozy-looking blue house. It was a very small house, And it looked like it had been recently (and somewhat poorly) fixed. Unpainted boards of wood were hastily nailed over a large hole in the roof. Other than that, though, it seemed like a very nice place to live. It was surrounded by a white picket fence, and it had a yellow dirt path leading up to the door that somehow managed to look very clean. A molehill was situated right outside the fence, but that was not why the strange blonde woman was there.

Lucretia walked up the path, reaching the somewhat small door. She knocked on it twice, and the waited patiently for an answer. Inside, a bear sat snoozing in his bed, oblivious to the woman right outside. Not everyone in the house failed to notice, however. A Red Crested Breegull popped out of the blue backpack hanging on a coat hanger, and it seemed determined to have the door answered.

"Hey Banjo!" the breegull yelled, squirming around in the backpack so that the coat hanger rocked back and forth. "Wake up! There's somebody at the door! BANJO!"

The coat hanger's rocking grew more and more severe as the bird tried harder to wake up the bear named Banjo. Shortly after it finished shouting, the bird squirmed a little too much, and the coat hanger fell onto the floor with a loud crash, punctuated by the bird's screech of surprise and pain. Fortunately, this seemed to do the trick, as Banjo awoke with a large yawn, and scratched his head.

"Hey Kazooie," he said, noticing the predicament of the bird, "what are you doing on the floor?"

"Trying to wake you up!" Kazooie replied hotly. "There's someone at the door."

"Oh. Well, that seems like a pretty silly way to wake me up."

Before Kazooie could get out a sarcastic response, Banjo plucked the backpack off the ground, putting it on as he walked to the door. Kazooie looked over his shoulder from the safety of her backpack as Banjo opened the door, revealing a blonde woman in oddly colored robes.

"Whoa!" yelled Kazooie as soon as she saw her. "Did you just fall into seventeen different vats of paint, or do you always dress so badly?"

"Kazooie!" snapped Banjo, angry at his friend's rudeness. Of course, he was used to this; Banjo was just about the only person Kazooie wasn't rude to, and even then she still insulted him from time to time. Despite this, the two remained very good friends. Banjo couldn't really explain it; they just shared a connection, which was certainly helped by the fact that Kazooie lived in Banjo's backpack.

The woman merely smiled at Kazooie's insult, though, not taking any offense. "It's quite alright. At any rate, I am here with an invitation for you."

"What, like some kind of fancy dance thing?" said Kazooie before Banjo could answer. "Or does Goggle Boy want us to watch another one of those stupid kickball tournaments?"

"KAZOOIE!" yelled Banjo again, frustrated. "Let her tell us what it's for."

"Alright, alright..." grumbled Kazooie.

"Your friend has no need to worry. This isn't an invitation to anything like that," said the woman, still smiling pleasantly. "It's an invitation to a tournament of 128 of the universe's most talented fighters."

"A tournament of fighters?" asked Kazooie, again before Banjo could speak. "Come on, Banjo! Let's go!"

"Now, Kazooie, we should think about this," said Banjo reasonably.

"Aw, but Banjo! It's so boring around here," pleaded Kazooie. "Without any witch butt to peck, there's nothing really exciting to do. I want to go on another adventure, and this sounds perfect!"

"Well..."

Banjo thought about it for a minute. It had been a long time since their last adventure. In fact, it felt like years. Maybe another one was coming up soon...but then this one was right here, and this time his little sister or the island didn't depend on them coming through. It might even be fun.

"...alright, we'll do it."

"Yay!" cried Kazooie happily.

The woman smiled again. "Excellent. We'll be leaving for the tournament grounds...now."

As soon as she said "now," the woman threw some strange dust over herself and Banjo and Kazooie. Banjo started to sneeze, but by the time he finished, they were no longer in Spiral Mountain.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	37. Marth, Ike

**Prefic: Emblem of Fire**

This world was one in which Lucretia felt at home in. People in this world fought in a more normal fashion than many of the worlds she had been to. They used swords, and magic, and they had armies rather than small groups of heroes going off to save the world. Yes, Lucretia felt at home in this world. She even felt she could actually be useful in this world. No need to use the L-block to fool people into joining her. No use of tricks to show that she has worth. No, this was a world where her skills could be put to use. It was almost a pity she wasn't born in this world. No... that's not true. She had helped out in her world too much to be more use here than there.

Prince Marth of Altea was fighting with his relatively small numbers, against a rather large number of bandits. Marth only had two knights against the twenty bandits. A three on twenty battle was a challenge, but not the kind of challenge Marth was looking for. He wasn't sure he could manage it. That is, until Lucretia Merces offered him her services.

"Lord Marth, I presume?" Lucretia said.

"Who might you be?" Marth asked.

"I am Lucretia Merces, a strategist from a far away country" Lucretia said, somewhat telling the truth. "I shall offer you my services, in exchange for a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"I only require that after the battle, your travel with me to participate in a tournament" Lucretia explained. "I shall get you through this battle with no casualties"

Marth had to think about it for a moment. A tournament... did he have time for that? He was sure that he could survive.. but what about his two knights? He didn't want to take the chance, so he agreed to Lucretia's terms. A tournament might be the challenge he needed anyway.

Lucretia explained that they would take up base in a tower that resided on the battleground. She asked one of the knights to lure the bandits towards the tower. Marth and his knights got into the tower, and waited for Lucretia's brilliant plan. The knight, as Lucretia instructed, made sure a bandit followed him back to the tower. The Bandits, then stormed the tower. Marth got worried.

"Lady Merces... are you sure about this?"

Lucretia nodded. She knew exactly what she was doing. It was such a simple plan, that it was almost beneath her. But she knew it would work. Especially on these bandits. Besides, being outnumbered sometimes called for desperate measures. The Bandits started to enter the tower, one by one. By the time the first thirteen entered the tower, Marth and his two knights started leaving the tower, along with Lucretia.

"Retreat? RETREAT IS YOUR PLAN?" Marth yelled.

Lucretia smiled. "Is your goal holding this tower? Or is it defeating the bandits?"

"Defeating the bandits of course"

"Then this tower is of no use to us." Lucretia said. "We are not defeated just because they take our base. If we must, we can set up base elsewhere. But I don't believe that will be neccessary".

She then signaled the other knight to go through with part B of her plan. The Knight set the building on fire. Marth was, to say the least, stunned.

"You, I want you to go to the right side of the building. Watch for any of the bandits trying to escape. They will try." She told the first knight. "And you, I want you go guard the left side of the building. Some of them may try to get out there. And Marth? Guard the front entrance. Anybody who doesn't go the other two ways, will try to leave through the front. Block their exit and we've won the battle".

Only a couple of bandits managed to escape the tower. All of them ended up dead, and Marth suffered no casualties. The knights were barely harmed during the battle in fact. Marth was grateful for Lucretia and her strategy. Now for his part of the bargain..

"I shall join your tournament" Marth said.

"Very well. But first.. .we need to go help someone else out".

With that, she sprinkled travel dust on the two of them, and went to another land, in another time.

They still appeared to be in the same world. Marth was a bit confused about the method of travel, but he thought better than to ask. Lucretia obviously knew what she was doing. Soon they came upon a group of mercenaries, who were fighting some knights. On Ike's side, he had Mist, Soren, Titania, Oskar, Elencia, and Boyd. On the other side were a group of a hundred knights.

"Are we going to... take all those guys on?"

Lucretia nodded. "Yes. I need Lord Ike to join our tournament as well. Then we can leave here. Oh, I'll need you to do some fighting if you don't mind"

Marth said he didn't care, a challenge was always good.

They approached Ike with caution. Lucretia was sure that he'd accept her services, but would he accept her conditions? She was about to find out...

"Lord Ike" Lucretia said, bowing. "I've come as a strategist to offer my services to you in this battle. As payment, you will join a tournament. Do you agree to these terms Lord?"

"Yeah!" Ike said, without much hesitation. "One hundred against six? I could use all the help I could get."

"Alright. Then I shall set my plan in motion" she said. "But first, Soren, I need you to spread the rumor that the main army is on it's way here in a couple of days."

Soren nodded. He had an idea of what Lucretia had in mind, but wasn't entirely sure. But he'd go through with it anyway. He wanted to win this one. Even if it did seem impossible.

Marth and Ike introduced themselves to each other, as Soren set Lucretia's plan into action. The next part would be difficult. But Lucretia was sure it would succeed. It had to.

Lucretia explained the next part of the plan. The enemy was planning a three pronged attack, one of the most dangerous strategies against a relatively small army. But Lucretia had dealt with those before, and knew exactly what she was doing. Elencia was their true goal, so Lucretia would have her lead a third of the army up to the dam. Meanwhile, Ike and Marth would lead another 1/3 of the army across the bridge, into the forest. Finally, the last third of the army would follow Boyd and Mint to an abandoned fortress not far from the location.

Everybody was in position. They were ready for the three pronged attack. The battle began.

"Hmph. These knights are pathetic" Elencia said, as Lucretia had instructed her to. "They couldn't catch me if I sat still"

As soon as the first company of the army was in sight of her, they followed her without question. She was their goal, and Lucretia anticipated that they'd be willing to send most of their men after her. Part one was working. The second part of the army crossed the bridge, to meet with Marth and Ike. Marth and Ike slowly retreated, making sure they didn't return to the castle. That would ruin the plan entirely. The third part was working as well. Mist and Boyd did a good job of convincing the last third of the army to come after them, especially after Boyd and Mint taunted them. Everything was running smoothly.

Thirty four knights made their way to the dam, where Elencia stood. She was so close, yet so far away. There was a hefty reward for bringing her back, they were all pushing and shoving to get to her. But as they made their way into the bank, Elencia whistled for her trusty Pegasus, and flew away, as Lucretia signaled for the dam to be destroyed. In a matter of seconds, water flowed into the bank where the knights were. With their heavy armor, they were unable to get to land. All of them drowned. Elencia's first part was a complete success. A third of the army was taken out with one fell swoop. Meanwhile in the forest, Soren set the trees on fire as the knights reached the ambush point. This scattered the knights just as Lucretia had required. Boyd and Mist managed to make it to the abandoned fortress, and locked themselves inside.

"You won't get away!" One of the knights warned them.

Before they could close the drawbridge, all thirty three knights made their way into the fortress. Was Lucretia's third part of the plan failing? Had Mist and Boyd reached their end?

Back at the forest, Ike acted according to plan. Soren came running in, whispering into Ikes ear. The Knights were curious about what was going on. Ike's face almost urned pale upon hearing what Soren had to say. Then Ike began to speak...

"Knights... your lord has abandoned you. He intends to destroy the bridge to the castle, keeping you over here when the main army arrives." Ike began. "If you choose to return to the castle now, before the bridge is destroyed, my knights will not chase you. Even if you defeat us.. the main army will vastly outnumber you."

This caused a murmur amongst the knights. Was he telling the truth? They didn't have to wait long to find out. A couple of moments later, they all saw the ropes of the bridge fall to the ground. Their lord had truly abandoned them.

"Lord Ike!" one of the Knights pleaded. "Allow us to join your cause! We do not want to die here!"

"I would gladly accept you to fight by our side. Some of our men are trapped by an abandoned fortress up there. We need you to help us fight against them." Ike told them.

"We would gladly fight with you"

Back at the fortress, Boyd and Mist slipped out of the castle without notice, and burned the drawbridge down. It would now be difficult for the knights to cross back over. Titania and Oskar stood at the front, waiting for their enemies to come. This had been the plan all along. The turned soldiers, along with Marth headed towards the fortress to engage the knights. It was now a group of twenty five against a group of thirty six. It was now evened out.

"Alright get on!" Elenica told Ike.

He hopped on her Pegasus, as they flew towards the Lords castle. "Good job on destroying the bridge" he told her.

Lucretia's plan to destroy the bridge served two purposes- one was to get the soldiers to turn. If they thought their lord really had turned on them, they may be inclined to join up with Ike's group. Second, was to allow Ike time to defeat the lord without having soldiers heading back across the bridge and following him. Elencia let Ike down outside the castle gates, and he entered unhindered.

"I challenge you to a fight!" Ike said.

The lord was highly confused. How did Ike of the Greil Mercenaries make it here? He had a hundred men fighting against the mercenaries. But if it was a fight Ike wants, it was a fight Ike would get. The lord grabbed his axe. He swung it towards Ike, who parried with his sword. Ike then swung at the lord, hitting his arm. Another strike, and the lord would go down. The Lord swung his axe again, and missed, and this time Ike countered, striking him once more. The Lord fell over, dead.

"Defeated... by a group of... mercenaries" were the Lords last words.

As Lucretia had told him to do, he burned the flag of the castle, signaling to the army that the castle had fallen. Their side had suffered no casualties. Ike owed Lucretia big time.

"I have to say Lucretia, you are a genius" Ike told her.

"I do impress even myself sometimes" Lucretia said, smiling. "But now, we must go to the tournament. I've wasted enough time here".

"Shall we take my horses?" Ike asked.

Marth shook his head. "She's got magic dust"

"Travel dust" Lucretia corrected him. And she sprinkled it on the three of them, and they were off.

By Cloud and Squall


	38. Prince of Persia

**Prefic: Prince of Persia: The Dust of Travel**

"Prince and Kileena sitting in a tree, F-U-"

"Enough!" The Prince yelled at himself mentally. His darker half once again attempting to regain control of his body. "We share a body and a mind, and until I am rid of you I will not let you gain full control of either!"

"Prince, I'm hurt," said the low, cool voice of the Dark Prince, "But admit it, you know you love the power. You know you love it when I take control. No holding back, an endless slaughter of your enemies. I've saved your life at least thrice! Do not tell me you're not grateful!" he ended with a laugh.

The Prince remained quiet as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He wouldn't argue forward; his other half was right: he did enjoy it. The violence, the fury... After all this sneaking around, didn't he deserve a chance to let loose? No, he couldn't admit to that fully... He was a monster when he went Dark. An absolute terror...

"Oh, come now, do I really look that bad?" the Dark Prince chuckled to himself.

"Get out of my head!" the Prince yelled as he climbed up a tapestry to another roof. As soon as he hit the top, he ran to the other side and jumped off, hopefully to the next rooftop, which he underestimated in distance. He stretched his fingers out , trying to make contact with the ledge, when suddenly...

"Hey, you! With the flowing black hair! PANSY! Down here!"

The Prince looked down to capture the sight of a woman in exotic clothing, a man - or thing - that appeared to be made of a copper of some sort, and the man who was yelling up, bulky and blonde, and wearing a foreign type of armor...

There was a thud. The Prince, taking his eyes off of the ledge, forgot to grab, and went headfirst into the wall. He crashed to the ground, managed to open his eyes for second, and caught a glimpse of the woman standing over him, a pouch in her hand...

By ZenOfThunder


	39. KOS MOS

**Prefic: Probability**

Wilhelm sat back in his nice comfortable leather chair, somewhere in a dark room. As Lucretia entered, he turned his chair to face her.

"Welcome Lady Merces. And your Droid friend t0o" Wilhelm said.

"Hello Wilhelm" Lucretia said, unimpressed that he knew her name, despite being from another universe. "We require one of your assets to fight in a tournament."

"I'm sorry Lady Merces, but I must decline. We need KOS-MOS right now." Wilhelm told her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That wasn't a request Wilhelm. But you already knew that."

"Of course I did. I know everything after all. In fact, I know exactly what you will do to get me to let KOS-MOS in. But I want to hear it from you. I want to hear you beg."

HK-47 didn't like that. "Query. Must you be such an ass?"

"Yes, my robot friend, I must." Wilhelm answered.

HK-47 spoke. "I ing want to kill this meatbag now!" He then realized what he had said. "Commentary. Oh great, now I'm starting to sound like that stupid meatbag Duke Pukem. Please excuse me while I execute myself Madam"

HK-47 went off into a corner, and proceeded to beat on himself mercilessly.

"Now shall we get down to business, Strategist of the Dawn Army?"

"Of course, Bringer of the Eternal Recurrence"

"Now, I am impressed. Very few know that. You're very resourceful. Now let's get down to what I really want. KOS-MOS to retain data on the multiverse to give to me. Of course I know that you won't allow that..." Wilhelm told Lucretia.

"Yes, I will give you an opportunity to observe the contestants from a safe distance for a short period of time" Lucretia said.

"That's suitable for me" Wilhelm said. "The Multiverse has always been something I've been curious about Lady Merces. I'm quite curious how you, from a universe lacking technology, were able to learn about it"

"I have my ways. I am very resourceful" Lucretia said, smiling. "HK-47, you can stop killing yourself now. Nobody heard you say that."

"Commentary. Very good madam. I shall kill some meatbags to make up for my error."

Lucretia smiled. "Let's just go pick up KOS-MOS".

KOS-MOS was resting in her chamber when Lucretia and her droid reached her. She was sleeping peacefully. Lucretia almost felt bad about taking her to participate in a tournament filled with violence. She wondered what Shion would think... but it didn't matter. Allen woke KOS-MOS up.

"Good Morning. There is a 99.9997 chance you are here to see me" KOS-MOS said.

Lucretia laughed. She could have used KOS-MOS several times before.

"Commentary. I don't detect that she is a meatbag. She is smoking hot too!" HK-47 found himself saying. "Commentary. I did it again. Sounding like Fluke Nukem. I shall go beat myself over the head to punish myself, Madam."

Lucretia shook her head. Those two...

"There is a 97.456 chance that if your droid bothers me, I will proceed to crush him" KOS-MOS said.

"Commentary. I think I'm in love"

And with that, Lucretia sprinkled dust on all of them, and off they went.

By Cloud and Squall


	40. Crono, Frog, Magus

**Prefic: Tournament Trigger**

Nadia's bell rang, as it had every morning since the King had put it in the square. It made such a beautiful noise that spread across the nation. Crono was always a late waker, and so every morning Nadia's bell was what woke him up. Today, he was meant to go to the castle, and talk with Princess Nadia. He had become so used to calling her Marle, that he felt weird now calling her Nadia. In fact, she preferred Marle, to Nadia. But the King insisted that he call her Nadia, and so he granted his Kings wish. Crono pushed the covers off his bed, and got out of it. He looked at the window, to see the sun shining brightly. Another wonderful day in Guardia. Nothing could go wrong...could it?

Crono walked downstairs, and told his mother he was leaving for the castle. He was leaving once more, without breakfast. His mother had tried to tell him that even a hero needs breakfast, but he just wouldn't listen. If he'd only wake up earlier, he wouldn't be in such a rush. But then again, if he woke up earlier, he wouldn't be Crono. He ran at he door, and headed for the forest. It was a pretty short walk, and there would be no monsters on the way there. Not since the guards had cleared things up. Of course this made life pretty boring for Crono. He longed to practice using his sword again... but alas, he couldn't.

As he entered the forest, he felt something he hadn't felt in years. A slight twinge in his stomach, that something was about to happen. But here? In Guardia Forest? No. It couldn't be. It was just his imagination, wasn't it? He wasn't completely sure. Then he saw it... a disturbance in the timeline. A time gate, as Lucca had called it. Why was it there though? Lavos was defeated. Everything was perfect now. Well, not everything. Those who were lose to time... they were upset about things. Were they trying to change the course of history, as Crono and his friends had done? He knew he needed to be at the castle... but the Time Gate was just too tempting. He jumped right in, headfirst as he had done when Marle had disappeared. He had to find out where it led...

600 AD

"Ribbit. This won't work Janus" Frog said.

"Shut up, you stupid amphibian" Janus told the Frog. "If I had known you were going to be this much of a pain, I wouldn't have invited you a long."

"Like thou couldst take Lavos on by thyself"

"Hmph. I'd have a better chance than you" Magus muttered to himself.

The fact that Frog and Magus were working together... well it was a start. Magus was responsible for Cyrus's death, and for that Frog could not forgive him. But Lavos... Lavos was the greater of two evils. Not to mention he still had the one thing Magus was looking for- Schala. Where was she? Or rather... when was she? Was she safe? Of course... but still. It had to be hard on her. Janus knew this, and desperately wanted to save his big sister. He had always looked up to her. She was his reason for living. She was his reason for fighting. She was his reason for everything. It was brotherly love at it's finest.

Frog clutched onto his Masamune, as the Time Gate started to open. Lavos could've popped out at any moment. He had to be ready. It had been a while, but Frog remembered Lavos very well. He was a deadly foe, especially if you weren't prepared. But they were. At least as prepared as they could be. Nobody else was interested in joining them in there fight. At least... not from their timeline. But what came out of the Time Gate wasn't what they expected... it was Crono!

"Great, I conjure one spiky son of a mystic, and get another..." Magus said.

"Crono! Thou couldst help us vanquish our enemy!" Frog said, excited to see that there were three of them now.

"Fine. Fine. We'll take the spiky haired one. But let's try this somewhere else, before we get some guy named Goku or something" Magus replied. "Like my castle maybe?"

Crono figured that Magus must've opened the time gate somehow... but why was it in the wrong timeline? Lavos.. Crono decided to forget about it. A lot wasn't making sense anymore. The three of them headed to Magus's castle. It wasn't a far walk. Could they really do it? Or was it impossible. They'd find out.

It had been a long time since anybody had entered the castle of the mystics. Even Magus hadn't entered in a while. It wasn't that it was too creepy... it was that nobody had any reason to go there. Not until now. This is where Magus tried to summon Lavos the first time. This is where Magus died in the original timeline. This is where Crono and company were sucked away into the past in the altered timeline. Everything had changed because of Crono.

"Neuga, ziena, zieber, zom... Now the chosen time has come... Exchange this world for...!"

The castle began to shake, as Magus spoke those words. Was it working? Or was it like before? Was their time line being altered further? What was it? Crono unsheathed his rainbow sword, Frog held on to his Masamune. They were ready for Lavos if he were coming. A time gate appeared... time drew near to see what the future held. Lavos? Or something else.

Out of the time gate, popped a strange woman, holding a strange L shaped block. "Hello. You're all going to join a tournament of one hundred twenty eight combatants".

Crono, Frog, and Magus were all confused. Join a tournament? Where'd that come from?

"We're not interested Lady" Magus said, preparing a spell.

"That not very nice!" The Block spoke, to everyones surprise.

"Yes! You finally talk! I knew you could!" Lucretia said.

The rest of them looked at her strangely. They believed her to be crazy.

"You join tournament. In soviet Russia, Tournament join YOU!" The L block said, speaking again.

"No!" Magus said. "I thinketh not Foul Fiend!" Frog answered. Crono shook his head.

"Stupid Frog. You die if you not join tournament!" L-Block explained. "Stupid wizard. You join too! and you silent one join as well!"

Again, the three declined the invitation.

"You make me very very angry. Not good idea to make L-Block Angry!" he shouted. The ground shook.

"Fine we'll join your stupid tournament, just stop shaking the earth!" Magus screamed.

"Very good then" Lucretia said.

With that, she sprinkled Travel dust on the three of them, and whisked them away to the castle.

"Very good. Now I need Vodka. You bring to me. I drink!"

Lucretia laughed. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe. She then sprinkled dust on herself, and in a flash she was once again gone.

By Cloud and Squall


	41. Cloud, Aeris, Vincent, Zolomy

**Prefic: Zolom's on a Plain.**

"Aeris! Loooooove me!" the giant snake wailed at Aeris again.

"It keeps making that horrible hissing noise!" Aeris yelled, repulsed.

"I'll kill it!" Vincent said, a gleam in his eye, "Cloud, watch my back!" he said as he jumped up into the air and did some unnecessary flipping as he shot his shotgun at the Zolom.

"Ouchies! That hurt! You emo freak, why I oughta..."

"Look out!" Cloud yelled as he jumped up and slashed Zolom, "He was gonna attack you!"

"Empty threats! I would never harm a human being!"

"Stop that horrible hissing!" Aeris yelled. She cast lightning which hit Zolom with a violent intensity.

"Ouchies! Please, Aeris! I know you can't understand me, but we were meant for each other!"

"It's that stupid snake's turn and he isn't making a move!" Vincent yelled over to Cloud.

"It's probably charging some super attack! Brace yourself!" he yelled back.

"I can't! It isn't my turn!" Vincent grumbled.

"Oh? I get to go?" Zolom cheered, "Yipee! Hug attack!" he smiled (well, he can't smile, but he tried) as he charged at Aeris. All of a sudden he was struck by some kind of invisible force field. "Ouchies! That hurt! Stupid shell..." he moaned as he retreated back to his place.

"Cloud! Need to switch?" Barret yelled from the sidelines.

"No, I got it, thanks!" Cloud hollered back.

"Hey, Barret? Why can't we all just fight at once? Wouldn't that make more sense?" Yuffie asked her large black companion.

"Shut the #$ up, Yuffie. You too, Cait Sith." Barret swore.

"But I didn't say anyth–"

"SHUT UP, CAIT SITH, NOBODY LIKES YOU." Barret yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Ouchies! That hurt!" Zolom cried as he took another slash to his face, "Stop it! Stop it all of you! I just want to be friends! ;;"

All of a sudden, out a nowhere, a blond, voracious woman materialized next to Zolom. Over where the rest of the party was standing, a large, blonde man appeared behind Barret and held a gun to his head. A thing, lanky bald man in a black suit appeared behing Yuffie, grabbed her, and held a gun to her head. A robot, copper in color, appeared next to Tifa an put a gun to her head. A large, L-Shaped block landed on top of Red XIII in a way that he would only be pinned, not able to escape.

"Hey! What about me?!" Cait Sith asked, not sure if he were lucky or neglected.

"SHUT UP, CAIT SITH." the rest of his party responded. Even Yuffie.

"Guys! I'm coming!" Cloud yelled.

"Ah-ah! This is a battle!" said the woman next to Zolom, slightly waving her finger. "You'll get them back once we're finished, if you survive..."

"Grrr..." Vincent growled.

"You'd better not hurt them!" Aeris yelled to the woman.

"You should be more worried about yourself... I believe it's my turn?"

"Yeah, hurry up," Cloud grunted.

"Yayz! I gots some help!" Zolom jeered.

"I think I'll start things off with a summon."

"A summon?! Damn it all..." Vincent grumbled, amazed that someone with the power to summon would show up just to help a giant snake.

"I summon... The Blue Eyes White Dragon!" the woman said, holding up a small card. There was a flash of white, and a giant, silver dragon arose from out of nowhere. "White Lightning Attack!" she laughed as a beam of energy erupted from its mouth. Aeris, Cloud and Vincent were engulfed in the beam, and then they all dropped to the floor, unconscious.

"Nooooooo!" Barret yelled. "We can't come in to fight if they're all KO'd!"

"Why is that again?" asked Yuffie.

"Because I #$ing said so, you #$ing brat, shut the #$ up."

"Wowz! You're really strong, lady!" Zolom smiled.

"I'm glad you're impressed! You're going to become my pet."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!"

"Was that 'what' for me understanding you or for me making you my pet?"

"I dunno, I've just never gotten to do one of those long, drawn out 'whats' before."

"OK... Sure." she said as she snapped her fingers. A chain appeared that extended from her hand up to Zolom and wrapped around his neck.

"That's some impressive magic!" Zolom said, impressed.

"Oh, all just smoke and mirrors. I don't know magic."

"Whaaaaaaaaat?!"

"...Just help me gather these guys up. Duke!" she yelled to the blond man.

"Yes, my sweet?" Duke responded eagerly.

"Statement:" the robot started, "Call the madam 'my sweet' one more time and I will personally rip your–"

"Use your dust and get out of here! I'll meet you back at base!" the woman yelled over the robot's voice. She reached into her dress and produced a pouch, walked over to the downed party, and sprinkled some on their heads. She tugged on the chain, and Zolom lowered his head, allowing her to sprinkle some on him as well.

There was a flash, and they had left Midgar behind.

By ZenOfThunder


	42. Scorpion, Sub Zero

**Prefic: Haha...you suck!**

"I am Scorpion! I seek revenge!" the yellow ninja growled.

"I am Sub-Zero! I also seek revenge!" the blue ninja who didn't consider himself a ninja growled.

"Get over here!" said the yellow one.

"No, you get over here!" said the blue one.

"No you!"

"No you!"

"No you!"

"No you!"

Suddenly, a man wearing no shirt, but sunglasses, as well as sporting an excellent hairdo, came flying through the sky and kicked Scorpion in the face. "You just got CAGED!" he laughed. He then turned, layed a perfectly executed thirty-hit combo on Sub-Zero, and finished with an uppercut that sent him flying up into the ceiling, where he became stuck.

""I'm in a hostile environment, I'm totally unprepared, I'm surrounded by people that probably wanna kick my ass... It's like being back in high school!"" he said with grinning, sparkling teeth.

"Cut! Cut! B-E-A-Utiful, Johnny! This movie is gonna be perfect!"the fat, bearded director laughed, "We're gonna make millions!"

"Why make millions when we can make... Jillions!" Johnny chuckled, striking a pose.

"Yeah, yeah, sure kid. Hey, I wonder what Scorpion and Sub-Zero would think if they saw this. You know, if they were real, of course."

"They would be very, very unhappy." came a cold voice from behind the director. He spun around to meet the frozen, dead eyes of Sub-Zero and the burning eyes of Scorpion. Without warning, Scorpion's hand was thrust into his chest, and he pulled out the director's still beating heart.

"Ruuuuuuuuun! Get to the chopper!" Cage yelled as he dashed from on the set to Chopper Dave's helicopter in the backlot. Sub-Zero threw a ball of ice that nailed him right in the back of the head, knocking him out.

"Nice working with you for once." Sub-Zero said to his bitter enemy Scorpion.

"...Yes, it was pleasant taking out a common enemy." Scorpion cooly responded.

"..."

"..."

"We must kung-fu fight! Hiyaaaaah!" Scorpion yelled as he got into a fighting stance

"Hwaaaaaaah! Yah!" Sub-Zero hollered as he summoned an ice blade and twirled it around threateningly.

They charged each other, but out of nowhere a beautiful blond woman appeared between them. Scorpion considered striking her down, but he figured it would be dishonorable to kill a woman as radiant as this one.

"Boys! Boys! You can settle this elsewhere!" she said, holding up an arm in each direction, stopping them, "A tournament of one hundred and twenty-eight, kill your opponents, then kill each other. Let the galaxy know who is superior!"

"A chance to let the world know my superiority? Of course!" Scorpion laughed demonically.

"It would be not be honorable to reject an invitation such as this," Sub-Zero said in his frigid voice.

The woman took out a pouch, threw some dust at them, and this sad excuse for a chapter was quickly ended.

By ZenOfThunder


	43. Alucard, Simon Belmont

**Preifc: A Miserable Little Pile of Secrets**

Simon Belmont climbed up the stairs with purpose and determination. Years of training had all lead up to this moment. He had traveled across Transylvania for weeks, battling hordes of Dracula's minions along the way. And now he was finally in Castlevania, the stronghold of the vampire. His inner sanctum was just a couple dozen feet away now, as Simon got to the top of the last step and began making his way down the short hall. When he reached the end, he steeled himself; gripping his whip, Vampire Killer, he threw open the door, and entered Dracula's throne room.

At first, it seemed empty. But then, on the other side of the room, he saw a figure in a black cloak with long, silver hair. The figure had apparently heard him enter, because it turned to look at him. Simon knew immediately that it was a vampire; the strangely inhuman face, combined with the haunting eyes and silver hair were enough to convince him of that. But he knew this wasn't Dracula; indeed, it seemed as if there was some measure of kindness and humanity in his eyes. Not taking any chances, he held Vampire Killer tightly, ready to strike with it at a moment's notice.

"I take it that you are here to battle Dracula," said the vampire. Simon nodded, not taking his eyes off the cloaked figure.

"Then you must be a Belmont," stated the vampire matter-of-factly. "I knew one of your clan once. He was a good man."

At this point, Simon was just confused; he had never heard of a Belmont befriending a vampire. Except...

"Then are you Alucard, son of Dracula?" Simon asked.

"Correct."

Simon relaxed slightly. If this was true, he knew he could count this vampire as an ally. "There is a legend that one of the warriors who helped my ancestor Trevor was a vampire named Alucard. I suppose, then, that you are that vampire?"

Alucard nodded. "That is also correct."

For the first time, Simon took his eyes off Alucard, and looked all around the room. "Why are you here, though? Did you come to stop your father once more?"

This time, Alucard shook his head. "I have left the task of defeating my father to your clam, Belmont. The world is better off without my tainted bloodline." At this he closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly in thought, or in regret. He composed himself quickly, however. "As for why I am here, I must confess that I do not know. I arrived her moments before you, brought by some power."

"That would be my doing."

Both Alucard and Simon turned to look at the throne of Dracula. A blonde woman in strangely colored robes was standing in front of it now, smiling at both of them. Alucard drew his sword and shield, and Simon brandished his whip.

"A demon? Or perhaps a spirit?" asked Simon, speaking to Alucard.

"No," he replied. "She is a human. Though obviously one possessed of an unnatural power."

"Come now," the woman said soothingly, "aren't you at least going to say hello? I put all this work into getting rid of Dracula and bringing his son 500 years into the past, and the most you can do is talk about me as if I weren't right here? I'm hurt."

This gave both of them quite a shock; Simon was surprised to hear that she had defeated had somehow defeated Dracula, and Alucard was astounded that she had managed to bring him backwards in time.

"At any rate," she continued, pretending not to notice their shocked expressions, "I brought you both here so that I could invite you to a tournament. 128 of the multiverse's most powerful fighters will be competing, hoping to win the ultimate prize. The prize could be anything; an eternal vanquishing of a powerful foe, or being free of a cursed heritage...it's all up to the person that wins."

Both Alucard and SImon slowly lowered their weapons. A tournament, with a prize as grand as that...how could they refuse? They both shared a glance, each one seeming to communicate to the other their mutual interest. Alucard was the one who spoke first, though.

"Very well. I shall join this tournament."

"As will I," echoed Simon.

"I knew you would," the woman replied, pulling out a small bag. The last thing either of them saw was a mysterious dust that she threw over both.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	44. Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow

**Prefic: The Fastest Thing Alive**

The canyon was quite peaceful at the moment. There were birds singing, and other animals lounging under the shade of the trees. The wind whistled softly between the rock walls, and the grass moved in the breeze. It remained this way for some time, until a distant sound made all of the animals look up. Far off, they could see dust being kicked up into the sky in the wake of some creature. They all quickly scampered away from the center of the canyon, clearing a path for it. In just a few seconds, it zoomed through the canyon past them, and was gone in a flash.

The blur continued to run, dashing over the landscape at almost impossible speeds, working its way towards its target. It was a distinctive blue color, and it had hardly a care in the world as it kept on running. That blur was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog, and he had on his typical confident grin, though no one was around to see it.

Several times on his run, Sonic thought he saw a woman standing on the plains, but it didn't bother him. Everyone knew not to get in his path, and he was able to turn at a second's notice if they didn't. So he kept up his pace, knowing exactly where he needed to go. But a moment later, just as he was passing a large rock, it suddenly exploded into a shatter of debris, and he had to dash to the right to avoid getting hit by pieces of flying rock. His running had not slowed down at all, but now there was a red echidna running alongside him.

"Hey Knuckles," Sonic said in greeting, still grinning, "what's up?"

"Nothing," replied Knuckles, looking straight ahead, "I just thought I'd help you with Robotnik."

"Tails told you he was up to something around here?"

"Yeah. Speaking of Tails, he should be here any moment."

Sure enough, there was a brown fox waiting not too far up ahead. As soon as he saw the dust clouds being kicked up by Sonic and Knuckles, he started to run, twirling his tails as he did so to pick up speed. The hedgehog and echidna met up with him just as started running as fast as they were, and thus was able to keep up with them as they passed.

"Hey Sonic!" said the fox enthusiastically.

"Hey Tails!" Sonic grinned. "Ready to take on Robotnik?"

"You bet!" Tails gave a thumbs up to punctuate this remark.

"Guys, I think we're here."

Sonic and Tails turned to look in the direction Knuckles was pointing. There was a large steel wall built through the canyon, blocking their way. The familiar face of Doctor Robotnik was stamped on it, almost seeming to jeer at the three of them from afar.

"Hah! He thinks that will keep us out?" scoffed Sonic. "Knuckles, it's all you!"

Knuckles nodded, and then began to run faster. He quickly got far ahead of Sonic and Tails, until he was almost at the steel wall. Drawing back his fist, he punched as hard as he could, connecting with the wall. The steel crumpled before his fist, a portion of it blowing inwards to make way for the echidna. There was now a hole large enough for all three to run through together, and Knuckles stopped short just as he was about to fall into a small valley.

"Alright!" said Sonic as he and Tails started getting closer to the now compromised wall. "You ready, buddy?"

"Yup!"

"Okay then, here we go!" At this, Sonic grabbed Tails' arm, and then began running dramatically faster. While before the landscape around them was barely visible for going by so quickly, now they could see only basic shapes and colors. Tails could not hope to match this pace, so he just held on to Sonic, waiting for them to reach their destination. In just a couple seconds, they were through the wall and about to run right into the valley. Sonic jumped at the last moment, letting go of Tails and curling into a ball.

As soon as Knuckles had crashed through the wall, several robots had rushed forward to deal with the intruder. Mere seconds later, though, Sonic arrived, and the momentum from his running speed before the jumped carried him right through their metallic bodies, reducing them to falling bits of steel and wires. The blue hedgehog continued to crash through them, until he came to a large floating vehicle that he merely mad a dent in, effectively stopping him. Uncurling, he stood up on the edge of the machine, grinning at the man inside. He was rather fat, with a red coat and a paintbrush mustache.

"SONIC!" he yelled in anger and surprise.

"Hey Doctor Robuttnik," taunted Sonic, "It's been a while! Thought I'd drop in and see how you're doing!"

"Why...you..." sputtered Robotnik, his face red with fury.

"Hope you don't mind, but I'm going to take a few of these as souvenirs of our meeting!" As Sonic said this, he tore out several wires on the control panel of the vehicle. Robotnik was too shocked and angry to realize what he was doing until it was too late.

"What...NO! What are you doing!?"

"Sorry, but I've got to cut our meeting short now!" Sonic dropped the now broken wires, then jumped backwards into the air. "See you later!"

He curled up into a ball again, then suddenly zoomed forward at tremendous speed, slamming into Robotnik's craft. This time, it was unable to stay still, and went flying away, almost matching Sonic's speed.

"SOOOOOOONIIIiiiiccc..." Robotnik's trailing voice cried as the machine carried him with it. Soon he was out of sight, and no signs remained of his tenure in the rocky valley besides the remains of his robots. Tails, who had been flying around ever since Sonic let go of him, flew as fast as he could towards Sonic, and caught him before he fell too far. They floated down towards the bottom of the valley, as Knuckles climbed down the wall to meet them.

"Good job, guys!" Sonic said when they met up, giving Tails and Knuckles a thumbs up. "Robotnik won't be coming back here anytime soon!"

"What do you suppose he was doing?" asked Tails, examining some of the abandoned equipment.

"Who cares?" shrugged Sonic. "The important thing is that we stopped him. Now, how about we go get some chili dogs?"

Before Tails or Knuckles could answer him, a bright green flash appeared in the center of the three and blinded them. When it died down, Sonic opened his eyes, and saw the menacing black and red-striped form of Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Oh, hey Shadow," Sonic said casually, not sounding too surprised. "What's up?"

Shadow glared at him for a moment before speaking. "I was recently accosted by a blonde woman and a large oaf wearing sunglasses. They told me that I, as well as you three, were invited to a tournament."

"A tournament?" asked Knuckles, looking suspicious.

"Sounds cool!" exclaimed Sonic, ignoring Knuckles. "When do we leave?"

Shadow again glared at the three of them, clearly annoyed at the fact that they had interrupted him. "As I was saying," he continued, "they told me this was a tournament of the multiverse's greatest fighters. They offered to send me to the tournament while they went to collect you three, but I told them I would come get you."

"Why would you do that?" Sonic asked, curious. Knuckles, however, still looked suspicious.

"So I could give you these." Shadow pulled out three of the Chaos Emeralds; the blue, red, and brown ones. Sonic took the blue one, feeling the power flow through. Tails took the brown one, and finally, Knuckles cautiously picked up the red one. Shadow, of course, already had the green emerald, which was how he had used Chaos Control.

"Thanks!" said Sonic throwing the emerald into the air and catching it. "But why give us these? It's not like anyone can beat us without them!" At this, he grinned again.

"Because," replied Shadow, seeming to look more irritable at Sonic's smile, "I already had this," and here he showed them the green emerald, "when they invited me. If I am to prove my superiority over you, it will be on equal footing."

Sonic shrugged again. "Whatever you say. So, are we going to go or what?"

"Now Sonic," said Knuckles, having had enough, "don't you think this is just a little...suspicious? We should think about -"

"Come on, Knux!"said Sonic, laughing. "Don't be so paranoid. I'm sure this isn't THAT dangerous. You might even have fun!"

Knuckles sighed, clearly not convinced. "Fine. We'll go. But I'm not letting my guard down."

Sonic's smile only widened. "Alright then! Let's -"

He had turned towards Shadow as he was speaking, but never got to finish the sentence. In the middle of it, Shadow had suddenly moved, throwing a strange dust over the four of them. Faster than even the Blue Blur, they were all gone.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	45. Dante, Vergil

**Prefic: This Party's Gettin' CrAzY!**

Lucretia stepped through the hellhole that was hell, careful not to touch anything suspicious. She was getting nowhere fast; it was too dark to see anything at a distance, and the sound of her feet splashing in blood was starting to get annoying (considering the floor appeared to be made out of blood). Still, it was easier than the last hell she had been too.

Finally, she saw it. Three red orbs floating in the air, creating a triangle faintly connected by red electricity. Below it was a statue of a sagely man, spreading open his hand and peering into the heavens. "Mundus." Lucretia uttered. The electricity intensified, and a voice echoed throughout the demon world.

"What mortal dares utter my name?" Lucretia started to fan herself. Did the temperature just rise a few degrees? "I, Lucretia Merces, dared to utter your name in the realm you hold lordship over." Oh, yes, that was very good. Someone with a love of drama would eat that up. "Why have you entered my domain, mortal? Today I am feeling merciful, so if you leave now and not utter another word, I shall not condemn your soul to eternal damnation." Lucretia shook her head. "No, today I have come to challenge you, Mundus. Prepare yourself for combat."

Laughter reverberated throughout the abyss. "So be it then. However, you are but a human, with no weapons even. I would not bring myself to your level by fighting you. My servant will suffice. Come out, Nelo Angelo!" Lucretia smiled. Perfect. Blue lightning struck the ground, and a warrior in blue armor appeared before her. "Nelo Angelo, Mundus?" Lucretia said. "Don't you mean Vergil?"

The blue armor shattered, blasting off of Nelo Angelo and landing in various directions in the blood-floor. Lucretia walked up to the person who was now Vergil, liking the fact that Mundus seemed to be at a loss for words. Vergil was gently touching his forehead, and seemed to be disoriented. "What?" he managed to get out. Lucretia reached into her pouch and sprinkled travel dust on Vergil. Mundus, shocked out of his reverie by the disappearance of his best servant, started to shout. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Lucretia pulled out some travel dust for herself. No sense in sticking around when near-god was angry at you. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Mundus screamed as Lucretia vanished.

Dante heard the door to Devil Never Cry open, but didn't bother to see who had come in. He was too busy watching the new TV he had installed in his office. It was good TV. "Yeah, just a minute. It's almost to a commercial." Dante said through a mouthful of pizza. "Is your name Dante?" a female voice said behind him. "Son of Sparda?"

Dante swallowed his pizza, muted the TV, and turned around to see a smug, blonde-haired woman. "How do you know that? And what's with the clothes? Did you stop by a costume shop on the way here?" The woman only grinned, looking smugger by the second. "I happen to like my clothes. As for who you are…well, I'm very good at gathering information. In fact, that heritage is what made me think you were a good choice. I'm inviting you to a tournament of 128 fighters from across the universe."

Dante leaned back in his chair, thinking. At face glance, the story seemed like a bunch of crap, but he'd seen weirder things happen. If it was true, he might as well tag along. He had always enjoyed fighting. Then again, what if they didn't have pizza where was going? Or what if the contestants were really weak? That wouldn't be any fun

As if sensing the indecision in Dante, the woman spoke up again. "Vergil will be there. Not Nelo Angelo, Vergil." Dante looked her straight in the eyes, and saw nod deceit in them. That settled it. "Alright then," Dante said as he got up with an extremely acrobatic motion no normal or sensible person would do. "Let's start the party."

By KamikazePotato


	46. Kirby, Meta Knight

**Prefic: Pie-O!**

Lucretia materialized in a world of bright colors, unusual scenery, and some truly bizarre inhabitants. She had appeared on a cliff overlooking a path, and she saw several of them marching back and forth, as if waiting. They included erratically moving tree stumps, odd-looking witches on broomsticks, and two-foot tall knights in armor, wielding swords as long as they were tall. She watched them with a measure of confusion, until the...thing she had come for appeared. A small pink puff ball walked out of a strange black doorway in the middle of the path, and started walking down it toward the other creatures.

"That's what they sent me to retrieve?" said Lucretia doubtfully, raising an eyebrow. She had been asked to retrieve some seemingly useless participants, such as that L-shaped block, the dancing idiot, and Duke, but this...Kirby seemed even poorer of a choice. She shook her head and reached into her cloak, about to take out the bag.

Right before she did so, however, Kirby had reached one of those strange knights. It seemed that they were hostile, as it immediately began charging Kirby, swinging its sword wildly. The little pink puffball seemed unconcerned, going so far as to yawn. But wait...that wasn't a yawn. Kirby's mouth expanded hugely, and she could see the very air being sucked into him. It wasn't long before the little knight had been pulled in as well, and at that Kirby closed his mouth and swallowed.

The effect was immediate. A long green hat somehow appeared on his head, and a sword materialized in his hands. He then dashed forward, hacking and slashing his way through the multitude of enemies. Lucretia was rather surprised; the little pink puffball was making quick work of them. In fact, none of his opponents seemed able to take more than one or two slashes of his sword before falling. She was impressed.

Lucretia saw her chance when all the enemies in the area had fallen. Kirby started walking forward at a leisurely pace again, and she used her dust to get to the bottom of the cliff she stood on and approach him. A few seconds later, and she was walking out of a bush ahead of him, waving.

"Hello there, Kirby!" she said brightly.

"HIIIIIII!" replied Kirby, waving his two little flippers enthusiastically.

"How are you today?" she asked conversationally, a big smile on her face.

"Hoyo!" he said.

"...what?"

"Hoyo! Hoyo hoyo!"

"...um...yes?"

"HOYO! Hoyo hoyo hoyo."

"This is going nowhere slowly," she sighed, holding her face in her hands.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance."

Lucretia and Kirby looked up to the cliff on which she had been standing not too long ago. Now, there was another one of the strange inhabitants of this world. He was about as tall as Kirby, wearing a steel helmet (which served as full body armor for him) and a cloak, and held a large sword at his side. He jumped off the cliff, and his cloak transfigured into two large bat wings. He used them to glide safely down, landing neatly next to Kirby.

"And you are...?" asked Lucretia politely.

"Meta Knight," he replied, bowing. "Lucretia Merces," she responded, returning the bow.

"I am capable of translating Kirby's speech for you."

"Ah, thank you. Now, I was just about to ask Kirby here if he was interested in joining a tournament. 128 fighters from all over the multiverse are being invited to participate for a grand prize, and he is one of them."

Kirby seemed to enter a state of deep thought, although on him it just looked adorable. After a few moments, he looked back up at Lucretia, smiling.

"Hoyo!"

"He said that he would be delighted," translated Meta Knight.

"Excellent! Oh, and as long as you're here, Meta Knight, how would you like to come along as well? I hear that you are a great and noble warrior, and the tournament would surely be benefited by your presence."

Meta Knight seemed to twitch a little, before he spoke. "It would be a great honor, my lady. It would be a perfect opportunity to prove myself."

"Good, good! Now, if you will both please wait a moment, I will bring you to the tournament grounds." Lucretia pulled out her bag of traveling dust, and sprinkled it over the two of them, as she had done so many times before. They disappeared a moment later.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," she said to herself, taking out some dust for her own trip back. "Though I wonder why Kirby wanted to know if I had any food."

By ThisIsAnOddName


	47. Jade

**Necromancer**

The cackling of a mad scientist could be heard in the deepest part of the dungeon in Grand Chokmah. It wasn't the sound of a mad scientist that had just made a marvelous discovery, instead it was the sound of a scientist who had been reduced to being a very pathetic human being. Dist the reaper, or as he prefered to be called Dist the Rose, was cackling because he knew that his old 'friend' Jade was coming to see him. Of course Jade just refered to him as...

"Dist the Runny. You're still here I see"

Dist growled at his old 'friend'. He hated to be called that.

"Oh right. I forgot. You can't leave. How silly of me". Jade had that nauseous smile on his face.

"You and I were friends once Jade! Please! Let me out of here" Dist begged. It was quite pathetic.

"Which Jade is that?" Jade looked around, to see if there was another Jade there. "I don't know any Jades with such poor tastes in friends"

Dist wouldn't let Jade know how much that bothered him. No, he wouldn't let Jade have the satisfaction. He would however, put it down in his revenge journal. A journal that he happened to have on him at all times. In fact most of the journal was filled with things Jade had done. Sure, that pesky emperor Peony was in there a few times, and so was Luke Fon Fabre and his entire group, and most of the god generals. But most of it was filled with stuff Jade had done. In fact the very first entry was about Jade.

"Why do you keep coming to see me if all you're going to do is insult me?!" Dist asked, mad. "Aren't you going to let me out of here?!"

"Oh dear. I'm afraid I don't have the power to get you out of here. As much as I want to. I'm afraid I can't."

Dist knew that Jade was lying. Why did he always have to be so sarcastic? Jade turned to leave, as he always did. It was as if Jade came to see Dist suffering. In fact, that was probably the only reason Jade came to see Dist.

"I will admit however, that you were a rather charming pet." Jade said.

Jade left his 'pet' in his cell, and started walking out of the dungeon. He was pleased with this weeks visit. He almost always was. He rather enjoyed seeing Dist suffer. It wasn't that he hated Dist, even if he did, it was that he enjoyed tormenting Dist as much as humanly possible. Of course Jade had almost felt sorry for Dist, but just almost.

"Jade the Necromancer" a female voice called out.

Jade quickly grabbed his spear, though the voice sounded friendly. He didn't want to be caught off guard. Especially since the last time it happened he lost most of his powers. That was a few months of his life that he'd never live down.

"Yes?" Jade inquired.

"I'm here to invite you to a tournament involving one hundred twenty eight participants"

"Oh my. I'm far too old to be joining any tournaments I'm afraid." Jade said. "And far too frail. Cough. Cough."

"You're barely older than I am Dr. Balfour." Lucretia told him. "And if you were frail, you wouldn't be wielding the spear that you have in your hand, against a poor innocent young woman like myself".

Jade put his spear away.

"Alright, I suppose I have no choice then." he said, almost to Lucretias surprise.

"I'm glad that you decided to cooperate." Lucretia told him, pulling her pouch out.

"Of course. I never intended to do otherwise" he said as he adjusted his glasses. His smile never left his face.

Lucretia tossed the Travel Dust onto Jade, and another contestant had been gathered.


	48. Sorting Sword

**Sorting Sword**

All One Hundred Twenty Eight had gathered in the castle, waiting for their hosts to show up. They weren't sure what they were doing there. All they knew is they were there for a tournament. The castle was oddly magical. Some of the contestants found it rather enchanting, while others... found it odd. Some weren't used to magic after all. Soon enough Blood and Flame came through the doors, to announce the next order of business.

"Welcome" Flame said. "We're here today, to get you sorted into houses"

"Each house has a common room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. You will be sharing these over the next so many days." Blood continued.

"Now, it's time for you to get sorted into Houses" Flame explained.

Lucretia stepped up. It was her turn to speak. Almost everybody recognized her, from the recruitment. Some of them liked her. Some of them hated her. Others were indifferent. It didn't matter. They had to listen to her.

"When I call your name, come up here, and hold this sword. It will sort you into one of Eight Houses. Nintendo House, Sony House, Square House, Konami House, Capcom House, Sega House, Namco House, and Microsoft House. Named after the eight great creators of this castle. Each embodies some quality of personality. It will sort you by that, rather than by what universe you come from"

"Shouldn't it be a sorting hat?" Vaan asked.

Lucretia shook her head. "Hogwarts has the copyright on that. So we're using a sword. Now let's get started!"

The first name Lucretia called, was Ada Wong. As the beautiful woman walked up to the front, a lot of the guys took notice. Which house would she wind up in?

Ada grabbed the sword, and held it tightly.

"How about you come to my house? Gah, must I really stick such a beautiful woman in one of these stupid houses? Fine. Fine. While I'd date you for your body, you got brains too girl, KONAMI!" The sorting sword commanded. And Ada was sorted into the Konami house.

Aeris was the next once called up. Like Ada before her, she held the sword tightly.

"Dead girl walking! haha! Seriously though. Good magical power. Strong of will. Got to be SQUARE!" The sorting sword said.

Agent 47 was the next named called. He walked swiftly to the sword, and grabbed it out of Lucretia'

s hands.

"Hey badly. You think you're a badass. With that haircut? HAH! Anti-hero. Totally. NAMCO!"

Agent J was the next to go up.

"You dance to save people? Seriously? Why couldn't you at least be hot? What a loser! MICROSOFT!"

Akuma was the next to be sorted.

"A real bastard we have here. Are you really letting him touch me? That's not cool yo. Send him to SONY!"

Next up was Albert Wesker.

"He has brains. At least I think he does. I mean sunglasses at night? Inside? Who do you think you are? Johnny Cage? You betray everybody. Please go die or something. SONY!"

Most of the contestants by now had felt that the sorting sword was a rather rude fellow. And they were right. He was blunt about everything, but that was just how he was. There was nothing they could change about it. Some of the contestants began worrying about what house they might be sorted in, and what the sword might say about them.

Alucard was the next one to go up.

"A vampire. Not Sony you say? Hmmm... is that your plan? That's almost perfect. KONAMI it is."

After that was Amaterasu.

"You brought me a ing dog? Hmm loyal this one is. Like most DOGS. I'll say SEGA!"

Arthas was next.

"We've got a real dirty rotten bastard here. Get your hands off of me, freak! Send him to Sony with the other satan worshipers, maybe he'll get his ass kicked."

Auron was after that.

"Dead man walking! Literally! Quite the big sword you got there. Lay of the sake man. SQUARE for you!"

Axel walked up to the stage after Arthas.

"Who's this nobody? A-X-E-L. Okay, I got it memorized. Moron. Bad guy. Check. Not quite evil. Check. Let's go with NAMCO!":

Balthier was called.

"You're no hero. Hell, you're hardly a sidekick. But hey, at least you're loyal. To yourself anyway! SEGA!"

Banjo.

"You beat a witch who was really hot, but you did it when she was not. She liked to always make a rhyme. I bet tha got annoying after some time. She was hot hough, insert innuendo, NOW SEND THIS BEAR AND BIRD TO NINTENDO!"

Then it was Bidoofs turn. Bidoof had no hands, so instead he picked it up with his mouth.

"HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Oh wait, you're serious? Really? Fine. Totally Microsoft."

Big Boss.

"You may have an eye patch, but can you see why kids love cinnamon toast crunch?...You can? Awesome. Konami!"

Bomberman

"Can you do whatever a bomber can? Seriously, you can tell me. Where do those bombs come from? Come on. Tell me. No? You suck. CAPCOM!"

Bowser

"Kidnapping. Check. Murder. Check. Rape. Wouldn't put it past you. Come on give me a hard one! SONY!"

CATS

"All your brains are belong to someone else. Someone set me up the loser. Microsoft"

Captain Falcon

"What's that on his nipples? Hey, how about letting me borrow your car? no? Too high tech, ing nerd. CAPCOM!"

Chris Redfield

"You were chased by what? ZOMBIES? Wait, no, you HUNT zombies. Someones got a death wish! NINTENDO!"

Next up was Cloud.

"Airplane Wing for a sword? Geez, compensating for something there buddy? You defy the laws of physics. If you swung me, I'd bleed. Powerhouse for sure, SQUARE!"

Crash

"What does he have going for him? Well he's not Bidoof. But he's still a loser past his prime! MICROSOFT BABY!"

Crono  
" ... ... ... Not much of a talker are you? You took on a giant pineapple from the future? NINTENDO!

Dante

You enjoy drama? You get shot and shrug it off? You have more weapons than god? I guess I'll be the one to fill your dark soul with SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE!"

Daxter

"You stick with your partner. Sure it's because you're a freak of nature. But you stick with him. SEGA!"

DK

"His coconuts gun can fire in spurts! If he shoots ya, it's gonna hurt! He's bigger! Faster! And stronger too! He's the fourth member of the Squaresoft crew!"

DIablo

"Oh wow. Satan. Did you even need me? I mean really. The name says it all. If you needed me for that... Sony. Just... Sony.

Duke

"It's time to kick ass, and chew bubblegum. What, you don't have any bubblegum? YOu might want to try some. Or maybe some mouthwash. NAMCO!"

"Oh yeah, baby!" Duke hollered out, excited to be in Namco. Not that he understood anything about it.

Next up was Fox McCloud.

"The guy pilots a freaking Arwing. Why don't you tell me? DO A BARREL ROLL INTO... CAPCOM!"

Then Frank West.

"He's covered wars you know. Fought zombies too. NINTENDO!"

Frog

"Let's see.. you've fought a wizard, a pineapple from the future, and have a pretty wicked sword. Hey Doreen, what say you and I go out! NINTENDO for this one!"

Ganondorf walked up to the sword, as Links heart pounded. He had an idea of where his arch enemy would wind up.

"King of Evil? More like King of Incompetence. You've tried to take over the world how many times? Still, I'd hate to put you on the same level of Bidoof...so Sony."

Geno

"Say your name...five times really fast. Seriously though, Konami."

Gordon Freeman

"Gordon Freeman Never Wins. Wait, what? You beat WHO?! Fine, Capcom."

Guybrush Threepwood was after Gordon.

"Mighty Pirate? Riiiiiight. I fight like a dairy farmer? How appropriate. You fight like a cow. I guess you CANT be anything if you try hard enough. MICROSOFT!"

HK-47 was the next one to go up.

"It's a robot. What do YOU think, meatbag. CAPCOM!"

Haseo

"Computer Geek. The internet. Serious business. Capcom for this one!"

Ike

"Sword. Check. That's all I needed to see. Just so you know, Swords are awesome. Just like I am. SQUARE!"

Isaac

"You're either really dumb, or really loyal. Since I'm in a good mood, I'll go with SEGA"

Jade Curtiss

"How do you get your strength? You drink BLOOD? TOTALLY SONY! Oh wait, you were joking? Haha, I like that. MICROSOFT! No really, I gotta go with KONAMI!"

Jak

"You've stuck with that bumbling idiot for this long? Wow. You're like the poster child for Loyalty. Sega"

Jill

"Next time you're chasing Zombies, you should do it naked. Really, I hear it does wonders. NINTENDO!"

KOS-MOS

"Did I ever mention how Robots shouldn't wear clothes? Theres a 99.99 chance you'll be in CAPCOM!"

Kefka waltzed up to the sword, and picked it up.

"GET THE ING CLOWN OFF ME. This is NOT cool. NOT cool. What an evil bastard. Ahem, there is SAND on my hilt. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate this job. Sony!"

Kirby

"I don't know why I'm doing this. But I am, ya dum pink ball. Well at least you can take other peoples power... so I'll go with.. SQUARE!"

Knuckles

"Do we have a gullible house? I guess that'd fit under 'loyalty' so, into SEGA you go!"

Kratos

"Patricide, homicide, genocide...you commit a lot of "cides." But you're an okay guy at heart. NAMCO"

Kratos Aurion

"JUDGEMENT! You fought with your son? You're an angel? I'm confused. I'll just throw you with the other Kratos, and say NAMCO!"

L-Block

"First the damn beaver, now you're sending me a block. Riiiiiight. Microsoft. MIcrosoft. Did I mention MICROSOFT?!"

Laharl walked up confidently. He was expecting to be placed in Sony.

"Evil. Not toally. Smart? No way. Loyal? Not even close. Technological? Yeah, right! Loser? I'd be scared to. Brave? Maybe more like stupid! Powerful? Very much so. Let's go with that. SQUARE!"

Lara Croft was the next to go up.

"If your brains are as big as your breasts baby, then it's gotta be KONAMI! Can I touch them by the way?"

Leon Kennedy

"Yawn. Another Zombie chaser. No thanks' bro. Nintendo"

Link

"You come to town, you come to save the princess zelda? And when you're feeling all down? The fairy will come around? So you'll be brave, and not a sissy coward? Yeah, Nintendo."

Liquid Snake

"No, I didn't like the shades. That wasn't ing cool. You totally belong in Sony! Just die already!"

Little Mac

"I'm not sure how you still have an ear, you're a brave, brave soul. Nintendo!"

Lloyd Irving

"No Brains. At all. Nope. Empty head up there. That's why he goes off doing all kinds of crazy stuff. But I guess he's kind of brave to do it all. Brave and stupid. Bad combo if you ask me. but hey, NINTENDO"

Luigi

"A vacuum? Really? So that means you suck, right? Right? Yeah, whatever. NAMCO"

Luigi was worried. Why was he placed in that house? It would be dangerous for him.. He'd be safer in almost any other house. How about Sega? His hands were shaking almost violently as he walked off the stage.

Magus Zeal went up after him.

"The weak strive to get weaker, and Namco strives to get weaker, so into Namco you go!"

Magus practically ignored the sword.

Marcus Fenix was after Magus was.

"Gears. That's all I needed to hear really. Gears. You're just a gear in the machine of CAPCOM!"

Mario

"He saves Princesses. And that's not even his full time job. He's also a plumber! NINTENDO!"

Then Marth

"Sword. Check. Blue hair. Check. Not spiky though... but I'll send you to... SQUARE!"

Master Chief

"You need a weapon? Don't use me, ya freak! You're more suited for a... gun... a high tech one at that. Guess that means... CAPCOM!"

And Matt the Mii

"Do you really need Mii to tell you? Microsoft!"

Then Mega Man

"You fight for everlasting peace? That doesn't really make sense at all. You're a robot. You fight robots. Eight of them,. All created by the same wacko. Get Equipped With - Capcom house. Yeah, that's where you're going. You're a robot, did you expect different?"

They were halfway done. Half of the contestants had been sorted into a house. The remaining contestants wondered where they would go. Would they get to be with their friends? Would they have to be with their enemies? Only the sorting sword knew.

Meta Knight was the first of the second half.

"You're the badass version of the dum pink ball. What's that, you're noble? Fine. Fine. NAMCO!"

Mewtwo was after that.

"Hey! STOP READING MY MIND! THOSE ARE MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT TIFA, MORRIGAN, AND TINA! Mind readers, god I hate them. Konami, now STOP READING MY MIND!"

Midgar Zolom slithered up there.

"Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!! What's next? Someone who eats dots? MICROSOFT!"

Midna

"I bet you're hot in your normal form! You took on the King of Evil by yourself? yeah, that takes guts. I guess. Guess that means... NINTENDO!"

Miles Tails

"Oh my god it's a fox with two tails! he builds machines. You know what I'm going to say next, don't you? CAPCOM!"

Miles Edgeworth

"OBJECTION! It's a lawyer. I sentence you to KONAMI!"

Mudkip went up, and like Bidoof, had to take the sword in it's mouth.

"I don't liek mudkipz. To MICROSOFT with your ugly lips."

Nathan Hale

"For $599 US dollars, I'll put you into Nintendo. No? Fine, have it your way, MICROSOFT!"

Ness

"It was a gazillion years too early for you to face giygas. But you did it anyway. That pokey kid is a brat. Into NINTENDO with you!"

Nightmare

"A soul eating monster that's controlled by a sword? Another no-brainer. SONY!"

Parappa

"This guy is a legend. One time he was fighting a billion ninjas and pirates, did he run away? No he didn't. What did he do? HE DID THE MASH! IT CAUGHT ON IN A FLASH! HE DID THE MASH! HE DID THE MONSTER MASH! Yeah, this guys got nothing. MICROSOFT!"

Pacman

"Are you sure you're in the right place? You were supposed to take a RIGHT turn, not a LEFT turn at the end of the hallway. That'll take you right to Drug Addicts anonymous. Now, get into microsoft because I send you back to rehab."

Phoenix Wright walked up to the sword confidently. He wanted to inspect the sword more closely. It may have been a murder weapon at some time for all he knew.

"Hmmm he's a brave one this one. Solving murder mysteries. HOLD IT! He's also a lawyer! KONAMI!"

Pikachu was after Phoenix.

"It's an electric rat. Yeah, guess where I'm going to send you? MICROSOFT!"

Pit

"Who? Oh, the guy who fought Medusa. I thought your name was Kid Icarus. Well you must be pretty brave to fight Medusa, especially as obscure as you are. NINTENDO!"

Prince of All Cosmos

"We are moved to tears by the size of this thing. Wait, he's a shrimp! And he rolls up things the size of the moon? Gotta have brains for that, KONAMI!"

Prince of Persia

"What? Two of you? One is evil and one is good, huh? How cliche. I guess it's got to be NAMCO!"

Peach

"What a babe! Sorry Mario, but the princess is in another house, SEGA!"

Pyramid Head

"The guy has raped, murdered, and tortured people. Do I really need to tell you where he belongs? For those of you who are too stupid too guess (I'm looking at you Bidoof, Duke, and Lloyd Irving), it's SONY!"

Raiden

"A lifeless room! almost like your empty heart! And for the record, Godzilla attacked the Empire State building. But you're not a complete idiot, so I'll just sent you into Konami"

Ratchet was the next to go.

"You've got a robot. Guess where you're going? here's a hint. It begins with C and ends with Apcom"

Duke thought for a moment, before the next contestant was called. "Where's Ratchet going to go? I don't think the sword ever said" Before he could get an answer, Rayman was called up.

"elrenopobedednod" the sorting sword said, speaking gibberish.

"etnageleyosozop" Rayman responded.

"Hahahaha, really? KONAMI it is then!"

Revolver Ocelot was the next person called up.

"Let me see if I got this right... you were a spy for that country, who spied on that group, for that country, so you could spy for that other group, on that country, so you could spy for that other other group, on that other group spying on that country so you could spy on that group for that country? I'm confused, and just going to say KONAMI!"

Ridley

"I thought you said it was a PIRATE! THIS IS NOT A PIRATE! THIS IS A ING DRAGON. Just for lying about what you do, you're going into Sony. Kthnxbai"

Rikku

"HOT BABE ALERT! Wait, you're only seventeen? Come back in a year babe, and I can teach you some things. You fix machines don't you? Let's send you into Capcom! I'd comment on your breasts, but then I'd go to jail for being a pedophile. Hey a 900 year old sword has got to have his fantasies sometimes!"

Riku

"Can we get the other Rikku back now? The hot one? Let's see... silver hair, check. That's enough for me, into NAMCO you go!"

Roxas

"Another Nobody. I'll say it thirteen times, maybe then you people will have it memorized. NAMCO NAMCO NAMCO NAMCO NAMCO, ahh screw it. Five times is enough. NEXT!"

Ryu

"Can you go into Sega? Shoryuken! SEGA!"

Ryu Hayabusa

"Finally, a real ninja. Can you like kill me without even looking at me? That's so cool. PUT HIM IN SQUARE!"

Sam Fisher

"Yeah, you wish you were Solid Snake. At least you know tech. CAPCOM"

Samus was next. She wasn't sure about holding the sword. But she knew it was required of her.

"Another hot babe. With a robotic suit? Now I get to have Robot fantasies, and to help fuel them I'll put you in CAPCOM with KOS-MOS"

Samus shook her head, as Kerrigan was called up.

"Such foul language, Queen of the universe. EV-IL. INTO SONY WITH HER!"

Scorpion

"GET OVER HERE! You know, into Namco, where you belong"

Sephiroth walked up with confidence. He was sure where he was going to go. He had a wicked smile on his face. He locked eyes with Aeris before picking the sword up.

"Let's see. Long silver hair. A mama's boy. Wears black all the time. His likes include long walks on the beach, and impaling flower girls with his long ass sword. This one belongs in... SONY!"

Serge

"You have how many friends? 43? Don't you think that's a tad much. At least five of them are hot chicks, of course that means 38 aren't, but whatever. Screams Loyalty to me. INTO SEGA WITH YA! If you must know the five, Riddel, Orlha, Steena, Mikki, and Kid"

Shadow

"Oh look, if it isn't Black Sonic. C'mon give me a harder one. THIS ONE BELONGS IN NAMCO!"

Simon Belmont

"You fount count Dracula, and death. DEATH. Good enough for me, you belong in SQUARE!"

Snake was after Simon.

"Didn't I do you already? Except you had an eye patch then. Whatever, KONAMI!"

Sonic ran up there, with hardly anyone ever seeing him move from his seat.

"Too fast for the naked eye, you can really move. But that doesn't mean you run away. I'll put you into NINTENDO!"

Sora

"How do you carry your stuff around? Kingdom Carts? Ha! I kill me. Loyalty is your best quality. That's not a compliment! INTO SEGA WITH HIM!"

Spyro had no hands, and much like Bidoof and the others without hands, he had to pick it up with his mouth. This made the Sorting Sword very uncomfortable.

"And I thought Crash was washed up! MICROSOFT!"

Squall Leonhart was the next one up.

"You've done a lot of good in your life... but you've got the potential to do a lot of bad. Whatever... NAMCO!"

Then Sub-Zero.

"Your brother was such a noob. But you're pretty cool I guess. NAMCO!"

The Boss

"I Fear, The End has come, you will now experience The Pain, The Sorrow, The Fury! What was up with that guy with the bees? I mean, seriously. What a lame power. Anyways, SQUARE for her."

Thrall

"FOR THE HORDE! I will put you in Square."

Tidus

"I want to be a blitzball when I grow up. I somehow don't think that's possible though. You defeated Sin? Good enough for me. SQUARE!"

Tingle

"You want to be a fairy? If you ask me, you already are one. You should really lower your prices on those damn maps. Now get your filthy hands off of me, and get into MICROSOFT":

Toad walked up nervously.

"The Princess was kidnapped not once, not twice, not three times, but at least four times. Probably more than that. And you're still loyal to her? Guess that means you belong in... SEGA!"

Tom Nook

"And I thought Satan was evil! Ho ho ho! Feel free to browse, but not to carouse, because you belong in SONY!"

Tommy Vercetti

"Being a mob boss would almost qualify you for Sony, but compared to some of the bastards around here, you're a saint. NAMCO!"

Vaan sprinted up there.

"HEY BUCKETHEAD! I'm Basch Von Ronsenburg of dalmasca! I wish you were. Because you're just a loser, kid. Into Microsoft with ya!"

Vergil was next.

"You tried to unseal an ancient demon. Now I may be wrong, but that classifies you as EVIL. Which classifies you under SONY!"

Viewtiful Joe

"Viewtiful baby! You stick with your friends. SEGA!"

Vincent Valentine

"You were a member of the Turks? Those guys were cool. I'll put you in SQUARE!"

Vivi

"You stuck around Rusty, and Rat boy? You must be really loyal little guy, SEGA for you!"

Vyse

"Air Pirates stick together. You've stuck with Aika and Fina all this time. Well, they're hot, so I can understand that! I'm still putting you into SEGA!"

Wander

"You take on Giant Collosi for a living. Where do you THINK you belong? NINTENDO!"

Wario

"Greedy. Check. Sabotager. Check. Incompetent. Double Check. Into SONY with ya!"

Yoshi, they were nearing the end.

You let a fat plumber ride your back whenever he wants. Yeah, this is a no brainer. SEGA!"

Yuna

"Another Hot Chick! Finally! Geez, that took forever. You're a summoner, which means you could probably kick everyone heres ass if you REALLY wanted to. So let's put you into... SQAURE!"

Zelda

"Triforce of wisdom. You do the math. If you haven't figured it out, you don't belong in the same house as she does! KONAMI!"

Zelos

"If I was a human, I'd probably be this guy. Which is a scary thought. KONAMI!"

Zero was next to last. The sorting was almost done.

"Wow, you've died a lot buddy. A whole lot. You're a robot, so guess what that means? CAPCOM!"

Zidane was the last to walk up there.

"Ooh, soft! Loyal too, SEGA! Now I'm done, isn't it time for the ceremony where all the hot chicks take a bath with me? You know, to make everything official? NO?! Fine. Fine. At least I'm done now."

The sorting sword had sorted everyone into houses, and here is how it turned out:

Nintendo  
1. Banjo  
2. Chris Redfield  
3. Crono  
4. Frank West  
5. Frog  
6. Jill Valentine  
7. Leon Kennedy  
8. Link  
9. Little Mac  
10. Lloyd Irving  
11. Mario  
12. Midna  
13. Ness  
14. Pit  
15. Sonic  
16. Wander

Sony  
1. Akuma  
2. Albert Wesker  
3. Arthas  
4. Bowser  
5. Diablo  
6. Ganondorf  
7. Kefka  
8. Liquid Snake  
9. Nightmare  
10. Pyramid Head  
11. Ridley  
12. Sarah Kerrigan  
13. Sephiroth  
14. Tom Nook  
15. Vergil  
16. Wario

Square  
1. Aeris  
2. Auron  
3. Cloud Strife  
4. Dante  
5. Donkey Kong  
6. Ike  
7. Kirby  
8. Laharl  
9. Marth  
10. Ryu Hayabusa  
11. Simon Belmont  
12. The Boss  
13. Thrall  
14. Tidus  
15. Vincent  
16. Yuna

Konami  
1. Ada  
2. Alucard  
3. Big boss  
4. Geno  
5. Jade  
6. Lara Croft  
7. Mewtwo  
8. Miles Edgeworth  
9. Phoenix Wright  
10. Prince of All Cosmos  
11. Raiden  
12. Rayman  
13. Revolver Ocelot  
14. Solid Snake  
15. Zelda  
16. Zelos Wilder

Capcom  
1. Rikku  
2. KOS-MOS  
3. Mega Man  
4. Samus  
5. Captain Falcon  
6. Fox McCloud  
7. Bomberman  
8. HK-47  
9. Zero  
10. Ratchet  
11. Master Chief  
12. Haseo  
13. Tails  
14. Gordon Freeman  
15. Sam Fisher  
16. Marcus Fenix

Sega  
1. Amaterasu  
2. Balthier  
3. Daxter  
4. Isaac  
5. Jak  
6. Knuckles  
7. Peach  
8. Ryu  
9. Serge  
10. Sora  
11. Toad  
12. Viewtiful Joe  
13. Vivi  
14. Vyse  
15. Yoshi  
16. Zidane

Namco  
1. Agent 47  
2. Axel  
3. Duke Nukem  
4. Kratos  
5. Kratos Aurion  
6. Luigi  
7. Magus  
8. Metaknight  
9. Prince of Persia  
10. Riku  
11. Roxas  
12. Scorpion  
13. Shadow the Hedgehog  
14. Squall Leonhart  
15. Sub-Zero  
16. Tommy Vercetti

Microsoft  
1. Agent J  
2. Bidoof  
3. CATS  
4. Crash Bandicoot  
5. Guybrush Threepwood  
6. L-Block  
7. Matt the Mii  
8. Midgar Zolom  
9. Mudkip  
10. Nathan Hale  
11. Pacman  
12. ParRappa the Rapper  
13. Pikachu  
14. Spyro  
15. Tingle  
16. Vaan.

Life at Arx Veneficus Oraculum, was ready to begin.


	49. Lucretia's Bend

**Village Fic: Lucretia's Bend**

"For a good time call Kratos... 1-888-447-5594," Duke thought aloud as he wrote the message on the sign, "That'll teach him to stop trying to be as badass as me. I'm the Duke, baby! Hail to the king!"

He gave a hearty chuckle as Leon, Gordon and HK-47 came from the castle behind him. He turned with a grin.

"Hey guys, you're the only ones going to the village with me? The others will be missing out on the babes!"

"Statement: We were going down to the village anyway, you just happened to obnoxiously ask all 127 of us to come with you." HK-47 said in his robotic tone.

"Yeah, we'd might as well get to know the place. We'll be living here for a while..." Leon said.

"Shall we be off? The sign says it's down that way." said Gordon as he pointed down a winding path.

"Look at the brains on Gordon! There's only a huge sign that points that way!" Duke laughed. Gordon blushed, and Leon patted him on the back.

"It's just Duke, don't let him get to you." he whispered.

They took their time going down to the village, taking in the breathtaking view of the small town surrounded by what seemed to be an endless forest to the back and endless plains to the left and the right.

"They don't seem to stop," 47 commented, "Switching to my enhanced view reveals nothing but plain and forest for miles, then fog. It seems to be some kind of enchantment. I'd recommend not trying to leave."

When they arrived at the walled-in village, they noticed that the only protection was a fat, sleeping guard wearing a beaverskin jacket who was holding a club. They guessed that there wasn't much evil to protect from, but why the wall, then? Must've looked nice.

The first thing they viewed as they entered was a magnificent, golden statue of a man with a crew-cut and a large chin, holding a shotgun triumphantly overhead. He was standing upon a large dragon with one beefy arm and tiny legs victoriously. Water pured from underneath the dragon into a magnificent fountain with an ancient rune carved into it. The plaque on the front read "JAY SOLANO - HERO TO ALL THE PEOPLES IN THE THATCHED ROOF COTTAGES."

"So, where to?" Gordon asked.

"There's a clothing shop," Leon suggested, "Let's try over there." The group hurried over to a small building with a sign that read "TINA ARMSTRONG'S LATEST FASHIONS." "Crap, it's for women," Leon mumbled, "Next store, then?"

"Not so fast, Leon!" Duke started, "I have a chunk of cash burning a hole in my pocket, and it's begging to be spent on gifts for my lovely Lucretia! She's the one! They sell thongs here, right?"

At this question, HK-47 withdrew his pistol and poked it into Duke's manly chin. "Query: Are you trying to get your brain's blown out? Talk about the madam on more time and-"

"Welcome, big men peoples, to Tina Armstrong's Latest Fashions!" came the most gentle, soothing voice any of the men had ever heard from the shop's entrance. There stood a women in nothing but a bikini imprinted with the American Flag, she had radiant eyes and flowing blonde hair, "How may I be helping you today?"

HK-47 dropped his gun. "Meatbags..." He grunted.

"You can say that again!" Duke howled as he stared wide-eyed at Tina's bikini top.

"Sorry, ma'am, we don't need anything now," Leon said as he grabbed Duke's arm. "47, Gordon, let's go. Gordon?"

Gordon's mouth was wide open, he stared at Tina in a mixture of shock and awe. "I... I feel like I know you from somewhere."

"No, I don't think we've met," Tina said curiously.

"Gordon! Let's go!" Leon yelled. After much pushing a shoving, they were on their way to the shop adjacent to Tina's. "LYNETTE'S ENCHANTED JEWLEY" read the sign. They were stopped by another beautiful blonde woman, who showed them several enchhanted bracelets.

"And this..." she said after a few minutes of conversation, holding up a golden ring, "makes your teeth sparkle. Doesn't do anything for bad breath, though."

"Sold," Duke grinned as he slammed money down on the counter. It was a huge was of hundreds, enough to feed a small village.

"Lesse... With all of this, you'd get about $200 back. Is that alright with you?"

"What?! $200?!" Duke roared.

"Yes, the exchange rate is $100 to 1 Zen. This ring costs 15 Zens."

"What?! What kind of operation are you running here?! Give me that!" Duke yelled in anger as he snatched up his money and stormed away.

Their next stop was an armor shop. A woman by the name of Hualin was attending to the customers: Auron and Marcus, and couldn't see to them. Duke, however, was seeing to her 'fine, fine ass' as he put it. Leon and Gordon took note of the bullet-proof vests, and 47 made a mental note to check on the plating at a later date. Duke, however, seemed confident that his 'massive, bulging pecs' were enough to stand up to any bullet or sword.

On the way to the next shop the group encountered a newspaper run by Chiasto Madison, but it was closed at the moment. Not that they needed the newspaper at the moment, copies were delivered to the common rooms each morning. They also passed a post office, run by a group of pelicans, all claiming to know Tom Nook. They also said they don't get much incoming mail, but they would fly over to the common rooms if they received any.

The party decided to double back, as there had been two shops to the right that they had missed. One was an item shop run by a man known as O'aka, but the shop was filled to bursting, so they decided to come back earlier the next day. The shop next to it was called "BODYGUARDS BY GEORG PRIME," but, seeing as none of them needed bodyguards at the time, they decided to skip over it.

"Where to now?" asked Leon.

"Suggestion: Go back to the post office, take a left and explore the street of shops." said 47.

They did so, and came to Lon Lon Ranch, run by a beautiful redhead who claimed she had dated Link once.

"Link?! Set your standards higher, babe!" Duke winked as he flexed. To everyone's surprise, Malon, the redhead, giggled. She really did have low standards.

"Query: What was that about Madam Lucretia? Is she not 'The One?'" 47 said, his sense of humor showing itself in a rare occasion.

"Shut up, Tin Man. I'll give you a heart, I'll shove it into your chest through your ass!" Duke threatened. Malon laughed hard at this, and Leon and Gordon gave themselves face-palms.

Heading west, the men came across what Duke instantly labeled as the "best shop in the town:" the adult book store. He instantly charged in, despite the others having no desires to be caught in there. They considered ditching him, but decided pissing Duke off would make him more of an annoyance than he already is.

"Gwee-hee-hee!" laughed a large purple octopus sitting in the corner of the room smoking something, "My name is Ultros, and this..." one of his tentacles slithered through to the back room, there was a short yelp of surprise, and the tentacle returned with a beautiful young woman wearing tight fitting clothing. She had green hair and what appeared to be bat wings coming out of her head. "... is Morrigan." finished Ultros.

"Nice to meet you, boys..." smiled the woman seductively. The three men looked down at their now tighter-than-normal pants, and HK-47's crotch sparked a bit. They all looked at him, but he ignored their gazes.

"So... do you boys need anything? Take a look at my wares!" Ultros giggled.

The men took a look around the room, it was lit by blue lights and the walls were covered with posters of beautiful asian women. Gordon, unable to control himself, ran out.

"What a ing puss," Duke commented at Gordon. Leon ran after him, and HK folled suit, "Ruin all my fun..." Duke growled, "I'll be back, babe," he said with a wink.

The bookstore was a bit off the main path, and as the party was getting back on track, they were stopped by a deep, gravelly voice. "Heh heh... This way, strangahs," the voice said. The for men turned to meet a slouching man wearing a purple cloak that concealed everything but his eyes.

"Oh, not you again!" Leon groaned, "How the hell did you escape the island?"

"Strangah, I'm hurt!" the Marchant said in an upset falsetto, "And after all that weapon tuning, I thought we had become so close..."

"Who the hell is this huckle-- I mean, douche?"

"I'm the Merchant," said the cloaked man, "and I have one question for ya: What're ya buyin'?"

The Merchant led the men to a hole in the wall to a small shack behind the town. There he showed off a variety of illegal weaponry. Not interested in being banned from the tournament, the men thanks him and hurried back. The Merchant laughed for no apparent reason as they left. "Heh heh heh heh... Thank you!" he said, thanking them for nothing.

The next stops were fairly boring: Cash and Carrie's casino, a court run by an incompetent, bald Judge, a gun shop run by a black man named Sergent Johnson who complained about the Merchant 'ruining his business' for a few minutes straight, and a store that sold camping supplies run by two kids in parkas that called themselves "Ice Climbers." the one in Pink bragged how she was considered to be chosen as one of the 128, but was dismissed for L-Block. She then ranted for a bit as the men snuck out to the next shop, which had beads over it's door.

"Bleh heh heh heh heh... Bleck!" came a voice from inside. The men pressed their ears to the door to listen, 47 simply stood aside, not wishing to partake in "meatbags spying on meatbags."

"Luigi, you are a tiger! A caged animal, ready to strike, Bleck!" the zany voice said.

"I am... a tiger... I am... a beast..." came a different, Italian voice.

"Good! Now, when it becomes night, you will dawn your new uniform and become the beast! You will be..."

"What are you guys doing?"

The men jumped as Sora and Riku walked by. Gordon quickly though up an excuse,

"W... Waiting in line! To get our, um..." he looked up at the sign that read "COUNT BLECK'S FORTUNE TELLING," "fortunes told!" he finished, thinking this was a plausible alibi.

"Yeah, sure..." Sora said as he and Riku began walking away. Gordon heard Riku mutter something along the lines of "what freaks," but he didn't take it to heart.

The men came to a large store on their right and three small stores on their left. It was getting late, so they decided to split up. Duke took the large store because 'bigger is badder,' HK-47 went to the bakery, Leon went to Diddy's music store, and Gordon went to Ryo's antique store.

"Welcome to Nookingtons!" greeted a small raccoon that looked just like Tom Nook as Duke walked in.

"...Nookingtons!" came the small voice of another raccoon.

"We have the finest selection of every home good available!"

"...Available!"

"Please, take your time!"

"...Time!"

"Are you guys related to Nook?" Duke asked.

"GET OUT, DID YOU NOT SEE THE SIGN ON THE DOOR?! NO SPEAKING OF NOOK IN THIS BUILDING! OUT!" yelled the first racoon as the second began to cry.

"Alright, I'm going! Jeez!" Duke said as he slowly backed out.

The other men had poor luck as well, Gordon had blown .04 Zen already on little capsule figures that were in the antique shop, and Leon smelled of poo. 47, however, had picked up an abundance of sweets that he planned on giving Lucretia. He had to smack Duke's hand away several times.

"We're not even halfway done!" Duke whined. He was right, they still had an entire half of the town to go.

"We'll skip the next few stores. The sign says it's a gardening store, a travel agency, magic runes and swords," Leon said, "We don't need any of that."

The men crossed to the next side of the town and came across the delicious smell of pizza. Entering a shop next to the gate, the men were greeted by a woman in a man's shirt with a large scar across her nose and different-colored eyes.

"I'm Lady," she greeted them, "this is my pizza shop. I made if for Dante, he's over there," she pointed to the silver-haired demon who was munching on some pizza. He waved, and Gordon and Leon were the only two to wave back.

"All you girls have such low standards!" Duke laughed as he grabbed Lady and held her in his arms, "Don't worry, the Dukester is here to se things right..." he said as he leaned in for a kiss.

There was a flash of red, and Duke felt cold steel against his lips instead of the softness of Lady's lips. Dante had replaced Lady with HK-47, who was now being held in Duke's arms, kissing him. There was silence. Duke was afraid to move, and this was making it even worse.

"Warning: I am about to kick the out of you."

Gunfire could be heard in the distance, Sora and Riku looked up from one of Ultros's many pieces of fine literature. Auron and Marcus both also looked up from the armor that they were admiring, as Malon as she tended to her horses.

A few minutes later, Duke walked out of the shop with an ice patch on his head and a bandaged arm. He looked a bit steamed, that was his first time kissing another man, even if it was a robot. Gordon and Leon were laughing hysterically, and Lady callied apologies from behind the counter as the stepped out.

The men passed "Ema Skye's Detective Agency." Scurrying past as not to be noticed by the perky teen who seemed to be harrasing that lawyer with the funny eyebrows, the men came to the place that they knew they'd be spending all of their time: The bar.

"The Winchester? What kind of fruity name is that?" Duke scoffed as they walked in.

"It's named after the shotgun," said the woman behind the counter as she pointed to the old-sawed-off that sat above the bar, but it was not the gun the men were admiring: It was the lady pointing to it.

"...What's wrong?" she asked as she lowered the arm she was pointing with. He massive chest jiggled as she lowered it, causing the men's pants to become tight again. She was the picture of beauty: Huge breasts, jet black hair, huge breasts, red eyes, white tanktop, huge breasts...

Gordon fainted at the sight of her. Here was a man who stopped an alien invasion, and he couldn't even stand the sight of a sexy woman!

"Dammit, Gordon..." Leon said as he picked him up, "a little help, guys? We need to get him back to his room."

"! THAT PANSY FAINTED AT THE WORST TIME!" Duke cried. He sobbed as he lifted Gordon's head up. "I'll be back, sweet-cheeks!" he said as he winked and pointed to the woman. She gave a nervous laugh and smiled as the men left.

"Statement: We are missing out on the dojo as well as the supermarket for this," HK-47 informed them.

"Yeah, stupid fainted at the site of a woman. It would suck if he liked men, because around me he wouldn't be able to handle himself!" Duke posed, and Gordon's head fell to the ground with a thud. Duke gave a "Whoops" and picked him back up.

---

"Help me!" Rikku yelled as she ran through the deserted streets of the town. She looked to the roofttops and caught sight of the outline of a short man with a large nose, a glint of green at the top of his head, "Somebody! Help!" Rikku screeched as she turned the corner into an alleyway. She had no idea this was an alley; she hadn't been around long enough. She hit a dead end and turned slowly, and met face-to-face with her pursuer.

"Muhahaha! It was right to run, pretty girl!" he laughed in his Italian accent, "No one can run, and no one can hide from the fantastic, unstoppable..." the man stepped into the moonlight to reveal a a green shirt and black overalls, and a mask covering his eyes. His hat was green and had a black spot at the front, with a backwards green L in it. He struck a pose as he finished his sentece.

"...Mr. L!"

Rikku screamed over a dark, Italian laugh that could be heard throughout the night.

By ZenOfThunder


	50. What a Long, Strange Day it's been

**Village Fic: What a Long, Strange Day it's Been**

Mario opened the door to the common room of his new house, Nintendo, ready to call it a night. He'd had quite a full day; being brought to this strange castle, insulted by a talking sword, and then he had to find his way around the winding corridors and steep staircases. He was no stranger to running around castle, but for some reason this one seemed to exhaust him mentally. When he entered the room, though, he was in for quite a shock; there was a huge statue of himself not too far from the door.

"Is that you?" said a voice.

Ness, the young boy with a baseball cap and a yellow and blue shirt, was sitting at the large table to Mario's right. He held a baseball bat, and was currently using it to point at the big statue. Mario blushed slightly, embarrassed.

"Uh...yes, that is-a me. Though why they have a statue of me in here, I-a do not know."

"Wow! Cool!" said Ness, a look of admiration on his face. "You must be really famous, to have a statue of you like that."

At this, Mario's chest puffed out a little. "Yes, I suppose I am-a."

"Hey, do you like baseball?" Ness asked, a bit of awe still in his voice.

Mario smiled at the boy. "Of course I do-a. I-a take it that you are a fan?" He was looking at the baseball cap and bat as he said this.

"You bet!"

"I'm more a fan of boxing, myself."

Ness and Mario looked over at one of the doors to another room. It had opened, and the boxer Little Mac was standing there.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said apologetically. "I was taking a shower, since they took me straight from a match, and I happened to overhear."

"It's-a alright," reassured Mario.

"Hey, do you guys want to play a game of baseball tomorrow?" Ness asked, grinning. "They've got huge fields all around this castle. They'd be great for a game!"

"Sure, kid," replied Little Mac. "We'll get some other guys in the house to join us, and play another house. It'll be a great way to get to know everyone."

Mario's response was little more exuberant; he turned 360 degrees, then gave a thumbs up, exclaiming "Here we go!"

A little surprised, Little Mac shook it off and looked around the room. "Hey, where do you think everyone else is? The room is looking pretty empty."

Ness and Mario shrugged. "Who knows?" they said in unison.

--

"HEY! GET BACK HERE AND GIVE ME BACK MY POWER!"

Laharl bounded over the tables, chasing after Kirby. After the young Overlord had taunted him about his size and non-threatening look, the pink puffball had sucked him up and spit him back out, sporting his scarf and antenna things. Laharl did not seem to grasp the concept that Kirby merely copied powers, not steal them, and thus was desperately trying to recover it. Kirby, on the other hand, seemed to be greatly enjoying himself, ducking and weaving about the common room to avoid him. He ran underneath a chair Dante was leaning back in, which nearly fell over when Laharl followed.

"Hey! Watch it, kid!" he shouted to Laharl's retreating form. He then turned back to the two people he had been talking to: Auron and Yuna.

"Where was I?" he asked. "Oh yeah. So Duke, the big musclehead, says that she needs to get better taste in men, and moves in to kiss her. So I move real quick and switch her with that robot, HK-47." At this, he let out a loud laugh. "You should have seen the look on his face when he realized it. Priceless!" Dante laughed loudly again. Auron looked rather disapproving, while Yuna merely held her head low.

"HK didn't look too happy about it either. Hope he doesn't eliminate Duke before the big oaf gets a chance to compete." Dante said this in a manner suggesting that this was exactly what he hoped for.

"Hm. Yes, Duke is rather foolish," said Auron, his voice as disapproving as his expression. Yuna nodded and said "Yes" quietly.

"So, you two know each other?" asked Dante.

"Yes," said Yuna, looking up at him. "Sir Auron helped protect me on my pilgrimage."

"Pilgrimage? What's that, some kind of - " Dante began.

"Excuse me," interrupted Auron. He then turned to the large statue of Cloud drawing his sword, which Laharl had chased Kirby up.

"Hey," he said in a flat voice. Both Kirby and Laharl instantly calmed down and looked at him. "Cut it out," he said in the same tone. Kirby and Laharl both hung their heads and jumped off the statue. The antenna and scarf disappeared off Kirby as a large star appeared in his flippers, and he handed it to Laharl. He took it, muttering "Thanks." They then both left the common room, heading up to the beds.

"Now," Auron said, turning back to Dante, "you were saying?

--

Miles Edgeworth looked up at the statue. It resembled two of the men who had been invited to this tournament - he believed their names were Solid Snake and Big Boss. They were both in Konami house, much like himself, but neither seemed to be in the common room at the moment. He scanned the room quickly, seeing who was here. In the far corner he found the only familiar face in the tournament: Phoenix Wright. The lawyer seemed to be engaged in a board game with Mewtwo, the large, psychic, purple...thing. He walked over towards them, curious.

Phoenix and Mewtwo were sitting over at the game board. At the moment, it was a chess board, all of the pieces perfectly aligned in their starting positions. The two stared at the board for a long time, each in deep concentration. Finally, Mewtwo looked up and spoke in his telepathic voice.

"I will win in 47 moves."

"DAMN IT!" Phoenix yelled. Edgeworth facepalmed.

"Wright, surely you are aware that he is telepathic?" he said, trying to reason with Phoenix. "You don't honestly think that -"

"SHUT UP, I CAN WIN THIS!" Phoenix slammed both of his hands on the table, causing the pieces to shake slightly. He glared at Mewtwo with a glint in his eye that Edgeworth had seen many times before in court. Of course, this time he really didn't stand any chance of victory, but that didn't seem to matter to him.

Edgeworth shook his head and sighed. "I will see you in the morning, Wright." With that, he walked towards the stair that lead to their beds. Halfway there, though, he found himself unable to step on the floor, and suddenly fell onto the ground. Some of the people in the common room looked to see what had happened, and it took Edgeworth a few moments to realize why he had fallen. Standing exactly where he had stepped was the diminutive Prince of All Cosmos, waving at him.

"Oh. Hello," he said uncomfortably. "Sorry about that. Didn't see you there."

The Prince made a motion that seemed to communicate "Quite alright, sir!" He then ran off in another direction, covering a lot of ground for his size.

"What in blazes is that thing doing in this house?" asked Edgeworth to himself.

--

Gordon was sprawled on the couch, still unconscious. Leon, Duke, and HK-47 had brought him up a few minutes ago, explaining that the bartender down in town had done this. Master Chief, who had been the only person in the common room at the time, had taken him inside, and was now trying to revive him with some smelling salts he had found in the bathroom. Even after holding them under Gordon's nose for quite some time, however, he had failed to awaken.

"That bartender must pack one hell of a punch," grunted Master Chief.

By this point, a couple more of the members of Capcom house had gathered. Sam Fisher was off by himself, examining something. The blue robot, Mega Man, was excitedly examining the statue of himself that stood near the entrance, and the red one, Zero, stood near him. Samus had come in, but she immediately went up to the bedrooms. At first, he didn't pay it much mind, but when she walked back down, everyone turned their heads.

Samus was no longer in her powersuit; instead, she was in a form-fitting blue suit. Her long blonde hair had been let down. Mega Man and Zero were surprised at the drastic change in Samus' appearance, while Sam and MC were more occupied with...other...things.

"Hey guys," she said to the room, smiling. "I thought I'd get out of my powersuit and relax a little before going to sleep."

Before anyone could get over the initial shock enough to respond, the door slammed open. Rikku ran in, holding her face in her hands and sobbing loudly. She collapsed on the floor in the center of the room, still crying. Everyone immediately ran over, concerned (except Gordon, seeing as he was unconscious).

"What happened?" asked Samus, putting her hand on Rikku's shoulder.

"I...I was at-attacked!" she said through her tears.

"By who?" pressed Samus.

"I d-don't know. It was d-dark and he was wea-wearing a mask."

"What did he do?"

"He c-cornered me in an alley. I t-tried to escape, but it was no u-use. He walked up to me s-slowly and...and...he tickled me with a feather!"

Everyone's concerned expressions suddenly became exasperation or anger. Zero stalked away immediately, while Sam facepalmed and Mega Man looked confused. Master Chief turned around, shaking his head, and Samus stood up, a little angry. Rikku seemed to be indignant at this reaction.

"It was very traumatizing!" she insisted.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Gordon had apparently awoken, as he groggily pulled himself into a sitting position on the couch. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. It wasn't long before he found Samus. He took one look at her new blue suit and promptly fainted again.

--

Knuckles looked up at the statue and shook his head. He didn't know why there was a large statue of Sonic in Sega's common room, nor did he particularly want to find out. All he knew was that he better not tell Sonic about it; he was always fairly overconfident, but this would probably rocket it to new heights. No, they were both better off if he was left in the dark.

"Hey, isn't that your friend?"

Knuckles turned his head. Vivi, the little kid in strange blue robes and a hat, was standing next to him. His face was completely shadowed, and he had glowing yellow eyes. Even with his diminutive size, he would be rather intimidating if not for his soft, childish voice. He was looking at Knuckles and pointing up at the statue.

"Uh...yeah," he replied. "But could you do me a favor and not mention this to him? I'd really appreciate it."

"Um...okay," Vivi said, sounding slightly confused. He shrugged and walked over to the couch near the fireplace. The wolf, Amaterasu, was lying near the fire, resting. Vivi petted her head, and she licked his hand in response. He smiled; Amaterasu was quite friendly for a wolf, and they had bonded somewhat after his friend Zidane had left to look for treasure. He shook his head at the memory; would Zidane ever learn?

As if on cue, the door to the common room opened, and Zidane, Vyse, and Balthier all walked in. Zidane looked as if he had been in a bit of a rough spot, but overall fine, and Vyse and Balthier were none the worse for wear.

"How did the treasure hunting go?" Vivi asked as his friend sat next to him.

"Okay. We didn't find anything this time, but we're going to go back tomorrow. We just need some way...to...get...past..." Zidane's last few words came slowly as a mischievous smile crept onto his face. There was a glint in his eye that Vivi didn't particularly care for.

"Hey Vivi, how would you like to go for a walk tomorrow?" he asked in a disconcerting tone of voice.

"Uh oh," was all Vivi said.

--

There was a severe lack of windows in the Namco common room. This is not to say that there were less in Namco than there were in any other common room; it was just that half of the occupants wanted to stand by a window and look thoughtful and threatening. There were not nearly enough windows for them all to do this, and thus they complained of a lack of windows.Eventually, Kratos Aurion, Shadow, and Magus had won the argument, and were all standing near the three windows in the room. Magus had even managed to make his cape blow in a non-existent breeze.

Everyone else was scattered throughout the room, keeping to themselves for the most part. Squall and the Prince of Persia were talking, as were Axel and Meta Knight, but otherwise everything was silent.

That is, until Duke came back.

"Hey people!" he shouted, slamming the door open. "No need to worry; The Duke is back, baby!"

All eyes were on him in an instant. None of them were friendly, but Duke didn't seem to notice.

"Hah! What a stupid statue!" he yelled, kicking the base of the Pac-Man statue near the entrance. He ended up stubbing his toe and crying out in pain, but quickly brushed it off.

"So, The Duke is ready to sleep! Which one of the fine ladies in this house would like to accompany him?" He looked around the room eagerly, expecting to see all of the women rushing towards him, ecstatic that Duke had finally arrived. As he continually looked around the room, however, a terrible, awful realization suddenly dawned upon him.

"...there aren't any women in this house, are there?" he asked fearfully. Everyone shook their heads at once.

"What a crappy house," he muttered, heading towards the beds.

After the brief disruption, everyone settled back into their positions. It would only last a couple minutes, sadly, as Luigi came bursting in shortly afterward. His was met with less hostility, however, as he seemed to be shaking and disoriented.

"Is something the matter?" asked Meta Knight, sounding concerned.

"I-a...d-don't know," replied Luigi, collapsing into a chair. "I w-was in-a the village, a-and I suddenly a-blacked o-out." He wiped his brow, sweating profusely.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Meta Knight pressed. Everyone else had gathered by then, interested if not fully concerned.

"I-a w-woke up in a dark alley later that-a night. I-a thought I h-heard a girl-a screaming, but she was f-far away. And then I-a c-came back here."

Meta Knight looked up at the others. Some, like Kratos and Scorpion, were completely uninterested. Others, however, such as Sub Zero and Roxas, had puzzled expressions. It seemed they had a mystery on their hands.

--

As for Microsoft...you don't want to know about Microsoft. Suffice it to say that in the morning, they needed a new table and three new beds, had a Zig infestation, and at least five separate people were on fire.

--

It was quiet in the Sony common room. Dead quiet. Unlike the other common rooms, however, this was not due to a lack of people; everyone except Bowser, Wario, Kefka, Tom Nook, and Sephiroth were inside. The first four had gone to sleep, while Sephiroth was still prowling about the castle. The room was full, and yet no one dared speak a single word. They sat around in various areas, on the chairs and the couch, some standing around the room or near the large statue of Kratos. Some occasionally glared at the other occupants, but otherwise pretended they were not there.

This had started quite some time ago, and continued for an even longer stretch. Eventually, some of them got tired; Liquid, Ganondorf, Nightmare, and Akuma all trudged upstairs at some point, still not saying a word. Near midnight, a sound finally came as the door opened. Sephiroth walked inside, his face as expressionless as ever. He walked across the room, his boots making heavy "clunk" sounds on the floor. When he was almost to the bedroom stairs, Kerrigan spoke.

"And where have you been?" she asked, mockingly.

"Out," he replied flatly, walking up the stairs.

Shortly afterward, Diablo stood up as well. But instead of going up to the beds, he walked over to the common room entrance and opened the door.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" asked Arthas in the same mocking tones.

"I do not sleep," Diablo growled. And then he was gone.

It did not take long for the others to leave after that; though they would not admit it, all of them had been curious about Sephiroth's whereabouts. Even amongst the cruelest, most evil participants in the tournament, he was an intimidating force. With him back, the common room slowly emptied, until only Wesker and Ridley were left. Neither made a move to get up; instead, they simply stared at each other, as if they were examining something interesting. Eventually, Wesker did stand up, but he walked over to Ridley.

"You can stop pretending now."

Ridley looked confused, as if he could not understand Wesker.

"I know you can talk," Wesker continued. "The others may be too absorbed in themselves and their petty schemes to notice the world around them, but I am not. You hide it well, but I can see the intelligence inside you."

Ridley again looked confused and bewildered, staring at Wesker for several moments. Wesker, for his part, looked at the dragon unblinkingly, his arms folded across his chest. After what seemed like a very long time, Ridley bowed his head.

"How did you know?" he asked in a deep, low voice.

Wesker pointed to his sunglasses. "Your eyes betray you. They shine with intelligence. Not only that, but when people around you speak, they occasionally flash, as if you want to say something. It's only there for a split-second, but I am quite adept at noticing things."

He began pacing, unfolding his arms and placing his hand on his chin.

"Does anybody else know?"

"The Hunter," Ridley growled.

"That woman from your world?"

"Yes."

"Hm...that could be a problem..."

Ridley looked up now, watching Wesker pace. "My intelligence is common knowledge in my world. She does not consider it anything important or relevant, and will not think to tell others about it."

Wesker smiled. "Excellent. Then Ridley, my good dragon, I have a proposition for you."

He stopped pacing and held out his hand, as if inviting Ridley to shake it.

"No one would think it at first glance, but I can tell that you are one of the smartest members of this house. The only other one I would consider worthy is that Sephiroth, but he's too...unpredictable." At this, Wesker frowned slightly, but continued. "Together, you and I can achieve great things. We won't need to win this tournament to reach our goals; together, we are more than capable! We will need to think of a plan, and a way to do it secretly, but if we succeed, then no one in our worlds will be able to stop us."

RIdley looked down at the hand Wesker was offering. This man appeared to be human, but Ridley could sense that there was something more to him, could see the red glow from behind his sunglasses. He was something special, and he may just be able to help Ridley get rid of the accursed Hunter.

"...very well."

And Ridley reached out his massive, clawed hand and grasped Wesker's, shaking it.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	51. The Magic Caslte

**The Magic Castle**

The Rain outside was pouring down heavily. It was still a couple of days before the tournament began. Nobody even knew who they were facing. All they had received was a blank scroll. Balthier couldn't take the waiting much longer. He was brought to participate in a tournament, not to sit on a bed in the Sega House dormitory. Siting and waiting wasn't something a hero did. That was something for his sidekick to do when he was in great peril, and had to temporarily take over things. He wanted an adventure, after all he was an air pirate, and a damned good one at that. There was a whole castle to go out and explore. Then it hit him- there was an entire castle to explore, and he was going to explore it. There were no rules expressly forbidding exploration of the castle. So that was it, he was going to explore.

"Vaan, get up." He said. "We're going to explore this castle"

Vaan rubbed his head, as he sat up. He wasn't quite as sure about it as Balthier was. But he was still willing to go. After all, he owed Balthier. "Alright, I'll go."

Baltheir picked up his pistol, and made sure that it was loaded. There was a rule about harming other contestants, but monsters could be in the deeper parts of the castle. In fact this, he was fairly sure of. Vaan made sure to pick up his weapon too. They never knew what may lie beneath the castle. Especially considering how old it was. According to Lucretia, it was at least two thousand years old. Which may not seem long in retrospect, but how often had it been in use? Perhaps never.

"Mind if I go with you?" Vyse asked cheerfully.

"Sure, the hero of the story could always use another sidekick" Balthier said.

That bothered Vyse. Sidekick? No way. But he'd tag along anyway, since he had nothing better to do. Zidane offered to go as well, and soon there was three members of the Sega House, and one from Microsoft House off to explore the castle. All of them Air Priates, well except for Zidane. But he was close enough for comfort.

Elsewhere in the castle, Raiden and Snake were planning on something similar, for a much different reason.

"We should get to know our surroundings" Snake instructed. "You never know when something will come up. Especially with the two of them here"

He was of course, referring to Liquid Snake, and Revolver Ocelot. Snake couldn't trust them. He knew they'd be up to something sooner or later. It was just all a matter of time.

"Mind if we tag along?" Big Boss, and The Boss asked. It was strange that they were working together. But they were at one time student and master. There was no reason for what happened in their world to carry over to this one. After all, they were soldiers, and were no longer on opposing sides.

"Bi-" Snake caught himself. He was so used to calling the man who would be considered his father Big Boss. But this man was a lot different. "Jack, Boss. Of course I don't mind. We could use all the help we could get"

Big Boss on the other hand was very confused on the fact that Solid Snake looked so much like he did. He even had a similar code name. It couldn't have all been a coincidence. But then again, there was Revolver Ocelot. Who had the exact same fighting technique of a young boy he knew, who went by the same name. Coincidences were about in the castle. That made it all the more reason they needed to explore it.

"I'm glad to see that we weren't the only ones wanting to check the castle out, David" The Boss said. "It's hard to believe that some of these people are fighters, considering that few of them have done anything to check this place out"

"Yeah" Big Boss agreed. "I wonder if any of them have ever even participated in a war before"

"I doubt it" The Boss replied. "Most of them probably haven't seen an hour of combat in their life"

In yet another part of the castle, another group was trying to find out more about the castle as well. Cloud Strife, Aeris Gainsborough, and Vincent Valentine were out exploring. They wanted to get a good feel for the castle, in case of emergency. That emergency, being Sephiroth.

"Nobody here seems to get what's going on" Cloud said, as if he were a general explaining something to his troops. "Nobody is considering Sephiroth as a threat. They fail to understand him like we do. None of them know what he's capable of. He doesn't care about the rules. He doesn't care about winning the tournament. He'll get himself disqualified just so he could kill a bunch of people. That's the way he is. We need to watch out for Ganondorf too. Link filled me in on him. He's not someone who's going to play by the rules."

Aeris nodded in agreement, as Vincent sat quietly.

"If Sephiroth attacks, we'll have to be the first responders. I'm not even sure Blood and Flame could react in time. It's not like they have tight security measures here." Cloud continued. "I want to know every inch of this castle, just in case".

Zelos on the other hand, was out looking around the castle for much different reasons than everyone else. All the hunnies, of course. And there were plenty of them at that.

"KOS-MOS, Yuna, Rikku, Jill, Peach, Sarah, The Boss, Zelda, Ada, Aeris, and Lara. All of those hunnies will be mine by the time I'm through here" Zelos said to himself, with a certain amorous quality to his voice. "So many Girls, and so little time"

Eleven was fewer than he had hoped for, but it was enough to keep him satisfied for now.

"I'm not even sure which one's my favorite. But how could I pick? Of course, there's also the lovely Lucretia"

Seemingly from out of nowhere, Duke shouted "You can't have Lucretia! She's mine. Besides, what girl would want you, when they could have me?" He had been standing on the stairwell above, listening in on Zelos' conversation with himself, along with HK-47.

"Ho-ho, do I sense a certain bit of jealousy in your voice?" Zelos said. "After all, what girl would not want moi?"

Also, seemingly out of nowhere, Kratos Aurion spoke. "I can think of at least one Zelos."

Lloyd and his father were on the stairwell below.

"Oh whatever do you mean?" Zelos asked.

"He means Sheena, Zelos" Lloyd said, not realizing that Zelos was being sarcastic.

"That Sheena chick, I bet she has taste in men!" Duke bellowed.

"Why would she want to eat men?" Lloyd asked to himself.

"Commentary. I think we've found a meatbag dumber than you." HK-47 reported.

"Who?" Lloyd asked. "Wait... what's a meatbag?"

"Addendum. I know we have."

Lloyd sat for a moment, very confused. This wasn't uncommon for him.

"Hot damn! Someone dumber than me!" Duke said, excited. "Wait a minute! That wasn't nice, calling me dumb! I thought we were friends!"

"Commentary. Friends with you? Hahahahahahaha"

"Then why do you follow me around all the damn time?"

"Answer. Because I don't trust you to be alone with anybody."

"Oh, well that makes sense." Duke said. "Wait a minute! I should shove your head up your shiny metal..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Lloyd made another dumb comment.

"Maybe it's a bag of beef or something. But I don't see any beef around here. Do you Zelos?"

"No Lloyd. I don't." Zelos responded. "But I do see one green eyed monster over here, wanting his pick of my hunnies"

"My eyes aren't green!" Duke said. "And I ain't no monster!"

"Ha!" Lloyd said. "Even I know that Zelos is using a metaphor to describe you"

Kratos and Zelos were both impressed. Even HK-47 was impressed, despite how unimpressive of a feat it would be for the normal person.

"He means that you're happy monsters, because green is a happy color!"

And they were no longer impressed.

"Commentary. Let's leave, before my data banks are corrupted."

With that, Duke and HK-47 left.

In the lower levels of the castle, the Air Pirate crew found a door with a lock on it. One that they had all come to suspect held boundless treasures behind it. After all, behind locked doors, are the best things. Every great treasure hunter knew that. Why lock a perfectly good door, just to be locking it?

"Well, let's go in, shall we?" Balthier said.

"It's locked" Vyse said. "We'll need to find the key"

"Not to worry, I'm an excellent Locksmith" Balthier assured them, pulling out his gun, and blasting the lock off the door. "See? All you need is the right tools".

The four of them entered the previously locked door, wondering what could be behind there. They found themselves in a rather curious spot in the castle. It looked a lot more like a dungeon than anything else. It was a bit dark, with a couple of torches conveniently lit in the passageway. It was magic that had obviously kept them lit. But it was still curious that they were there in the first place. Almost as if someone was meant to be down there. But with the lock on the door? Well obviously, someone had a key. But still. Someone knowing what they were looking for would've brought their own torch. It was just another quirk of the castle.

At the end of the passageway, they found another door. This one wasn't locked. But that worried Balthier more than anything. Anything worth keeping, you'd lock every door you could to keep it from being taken. Or... you'd place a trap to stop them from getting too close. So either the item wasn't worth it, there was a trap behind this door. Before long he'd find out which it was.

Two giant boulders rolled back and forth along the path. There was only a split second in which someone could jump from one path to the other without getting crushed. The item was obviously very well guarded. Whatever was beyond this, had to be good. But getting to it... would be difficult.

"Vaan, I want you to go to the other side, and bring the item back". Balthier told him.

"Shouldn't you do it?" Vaan asked.

"Of course not. The hero of the story can't die yet. It's only just begun" Balthier replied with a smile on his face.

"Then get Vyse, or Zidane to do it. I'm not doing it. No way!"

"I wouldn't feel right stealing the item they worked hard to get" he explained. "You on the other hand, I would have no qualms about."

"Well forget it." Vaan told him

Balthier was rather upset, but quickly Zidane volunteered to do it instead. Balthier, Vyse, and Vaan watched as Zidane managed to slip between the cracks, and make a run for the end. They then watched him go downstairs to get their treasure.

"I'd thought it was impossible" Balthier said.

"Nothing is impossible" Vyse corrected him.

"Then you have a lot to learn my friend. Many things are impossible"

"Impossible is just a word we use to make ourselves feel better about failing"

Balthier shook his head. The boy was naive. Nothing is impossible? If only that were true. He did have to admit however, that sometimes impossible was used in exaggeration. This may have been one of those cases.

Before long Zidane came rushing back, jumping across the boulders. But there was no item in his hand. Had it already been taken? Or was it something else...Balthier had a bad feeling about it.

"Where's the treasure?" Balthier asked.

Zidane shook his head. His tone of voice suggested that getting the treasure was going to be harder than they thought. "There were all sorts of traps up ahead. I couldn't get very far".

More traps? That was a good piece of news. The more traps, the better the treasure. That's how it always was. The only question was... how to get to it. One thing was for certain, they were leaving empty handed today. They'd have to come up with a plan of action to get past all of those traps. There just wasn't any way for them to get past the traps.

"I think we should head back to the common rooms. It's getting late" Balthier said. "A hero needs his rest."

As they turned to head back, Balthier wondered what treasures might lie beyond the traps, and what other treasures the castle may hold. While the tournament was meant to be the main focus, a heroes story needs a little filler now and again. He'd be back for the treasure, and he'd certainly do his best to find more.

Snake, Raiden, Big Boss, and The Boss were walking down an empty hallway. They weren't sure where they were headed, because they weren't handed a map to the castle. All they knew, is they were going to find something at the end. What it was- was the question.

"So who are you most worried about facing in battle?" Raiden asked the other three.

"I'll have to go with Master Chief" Big Boss said. "Though I'm sure I could take him, he's got heavy armor, and certainly knows how to use a gun."

"Samus Aran. She's a bounty hunter I hear" The Boss told the others. "She's got body armor too, and a variety of weapons that look dangerous."

Solid Snake shook his head. "Master Chief and Samus? I'm not worried about them at all. Mega Man is the one we have to worry about. He's a robot, so he's probably trained in combat situations. He's going to have better sight, and hearing than any of us. And his blaster probably has good range. How about you Raiden?"

"I don't know, but I'd hate to have to face any of you" he replied. "But Cloud said to watch out for that Sephiroth guy."

"Sephiroth?" Big Boss laughed. "The guy still uses a sword to fight. We've got range, and he doesn't."

"Don't underestimate your opponent" The Boss warned. "Even if he uses a sword. What'd Cloud say about him?"

Raiden recalled what Cloud had said, and looked straight at Solid Snake when he gave his answer. "He said that Sephiroth was genetically engineered to be the greatest soldier known to man".

Snake was stunned for a moment. Genetically engineered to become the greatest soldier known to man? That sounded a lot like the Les Enfants Terribles Project. It sounded like... him. He couldn't say anything about it to Big Boss, or The Boss. Neither of them would understand. Even if they could understand, he couldn't tell them anyway. It'd create a time paradox, as Lucretia had explained. But he wanted to talk with Raiden about it later. He hated having only Raiden to turn to, but who else was there? Otacon wasn't here. Meryl wasn't here.

"I think this leads to the library" Big Boss said.

"Hmm that's strange, I don't think I heard anything about a library here" Raiden responded.

"They haven't told us much about this place to start with" Snake said.

He was right. Blood and Flame didn't really tell any of them much about the castle. All they really knew was where the common rooms were located, and how to get to Lucretia's bend. Outside of that, they knew that they were free to go about the castle. Well except for the 10th floor. That was off limits. But Snake was going to explore it the first chance he got. He'd just have to be careful.

"Yep, the library" Raiden said, pointing to a room containing what looked like hundreds of thousands of old books. Most of them dusty, few of them had probably been off the shelf in a century.

An odd looking man was standing before the four.

"May I help you?" the man asked

"We didn't even know there was a library here" Raiden said.

"This library is free to all who live within the castle. A couple of people have already found it." he said, motioning to two people reading through books.

The first was Alucard, who Snake, Raiden, and Big Boss all recognized from their own house. He was sitting at one of the many large tables in the library, reading through a book entitled "Dark World Encyclopedia".

The other... was Sephiroth, who was oddly pacing back and forth reading over a copy of a book on genetics. It was almost mesmerizing how he paced back and forth. It was also very creepy, as it was with almost everything Sephiroth done.

"Oh, and I'm Jin Uzuki. I'm the librarian here."

The four decided to take a seat at one of the tables, and talked quietly.

"Here." Snake said.

"Here what?" Raiden said.

The kid was still young. He didn't understand what Snake meant when he said 'here'. But Big Boss and The Boss, they knew what he meant. Even though neither of them knew Solid Snake well, they understood exactly what he was thinking. They had become closer to Snake in their short stay in the castle, than Raiden had in all his time knowing Snake.

"He means that this will be our spot" Big Boss explained. "This is where we'll meet to discuss things privately. Things we don't want other people to know".

Raiden understood. Especially with Ocelot and Liquid around. But he wasn't sure that this was the best place. People would probably come here often... but maybe that made it the best choice of all. Nobody would ever question why three people from Konami House were going to the library. It was so simple, and yet so brilliant at the same time.

We've done enough exploring for today" Snake said. "I really want to know what's on that 10th floor though."

"Best to not think about it much" The Boss advised him. "We'll find out, when we find out"

With that, they all headed back to their common rooms.

Cloud, Aeris, and Vincent made their way to the infirmary, on Clouds suggestion. It seemed that Cloud wanted to make sure there was adequate medical professionals in the infirmary. When he walked in, he was rather surprised to see a rather young looking doctor, and six nurses.

"Hello Mr. Strife. I'm Dr. Derek Stiles. What have you come to our clinic for today?"

"I'm here to make sure your medical facilities are adequate."

"I assure you they are Mr. Strife. We're ready for any medical emergency."

Cloud wasn't completely satisfied. The doctor seemed young. And if Sephiroth seriously injured someone, they'd have to act quickly. "You" he said pointed at the large busted woman with red hair. "What do you do?"

"Do NOT call me YOU" she said in an English accent. "I'm Jessica Albert, and I'm a damned good Mage. Now ask me again, and you won't be receiving any treatment when I decide to burn you"

Testy. Fierce. Cloud wasn't too sure about her. "How about you?" he asked the next one, wearing what looked like a karate outfit.

"Oh me?" she asked. "I'm Miranda. And I heal people."

The smile on her face indicated that she at least had a good bedside manner, unlike Jessica. "And you?" he asked the white haired woman in blue.

"I'm Alice" she said. "And I'm also a nurse here. I help treat the wounded."

She seemed a bit shy. Wasn't a quality that Cloud particularly looked for in an infirmary. "How about you?" he asked the red haired women in a strange outfit.

"I'm Nel Zelpher" she said, twisting his arm. "And I assure you that our medical facilities are adequate. If you have a problem with them, take them up with Flame and Blood. Got that?"

Another feisty one. Cloud wondered how they did their hiring. "And you?" he asked the girl in the pink top, and skirt.

"M-me?" she asked. "I'm Sophia Esteed. And I heal people too. But don't make me mad, or I won't treat you!"

Cloud just wanted to shake his head. Were Blood and Flame really prepared for this tournament they planned on hosting? They invited Sephiroth, they must've known what he was capable of. Not just Sephiroth, Ganondorf, and just about everybody in Sony House for that matter. "And you?"

"Locrian Sergent Tear Grants. I'm here to assist the wounded, the sick, and the injured using spells, and medicines on the advice of Doctor Derek Stiles"

The last one seemed competent enough. Cloud wasn't satisfied, but he wasn't going to anger the staff anymore than he had to. "Alright, I guess you're adequeate enough for now. Aeris?"

"I'm Aeris Gainsborough. And if you need any assistance..." Aeris started

"She'll help you." Cloud said. "Now we'll get out of your way."

"Alright. Hope to see you again soon" Dr. Stiles said.

"I'm sure their staff can handle it Cloud." Aeris assured him.

"You shouldn't worry about Sephiroth. If he does anything, we'll deal with him" Vincent said. "I do find it strange however, that she has that name."

"Lucretia, you mean?" Aeris asked.

Vincent nodded. He remembered that name well. But it was a totally different woman. A woman more of science, than strategy.

"Alright, let's get some sleep." Cloud said.

"Alright, let's mosey!" Aeris said, teasing.

Cloud laughed, and was in a lighter mood. The nursing staff may not have been impressive, but they had a good number of people on staff at least. It'd be a long drawn out tournament, if they didn't.

As HK-47 and Duke were about to enter their common rooms, the stairs started moving again. They did this fairly randomly, and there was no way to predict how they'd do it. It had scared Duke the first few times. HK-47 on the other hand found it entertaining. Zelos, Kratos, and Lloyd on the floor below were also rather surprised by the sudden movement.

"Hey, what's happening here?" Zelos asked.

Then, something that had never happened before, happened. The stairs turned into a slide, and everyone on them, including Duke and HK-47, slid down them. The first o the bottom was Zelos. Lloyd landed on top of him, followed by Kratos, HK-47, and finally Duke. Zelos was at the bottom of the pile when Duke landed, and that was not a feeling Zelos would soon forget. They all stood up, and walked towards the edge of the room they were now in. There were flowers blooming in the room, and a sign saying "The Gardener"

"Flowers? I hate flowers!" Duke said. "They're useless, they're stupid they're!"

But before he could finish, a beautiful woman walked into the room. It was Grune, the gardener. She was a beautiful woman, wearing a green dress, that showed a little bit of cleavage.

"Oh my, that looked like fun" Grune said, in her carefree voice.

"Trust me, my flower, it wasn't" Zelos said.

"Oh, you look upset" she said to Duke, who still surprisingly hadn't noticed the beautiful woman in the room. "You just need a hug"

With that, Grune gave a big bear hug to Duke, squeezing his body against hers. Duke rather enjoyed this, especially since Grune had a nice body.

"I stand corrected. Flowers are wonderful"

Zelos didn't like that Duke was getting all of the attention, especially when he was in the room himself. Grune seemed to notice this however.

"Oh Zelos. You don't look like you're having fun" she said. "Do you want a hug too?"

"Well..." Zelos said. "I mean, I could do without one, I mean I'm Zelos after all. But now that you mention it..."

Before he could finish it, Grune hugged Zelos just as she had hugged Duke.

"I think I've found the woman of my dreams!" Zelos said.

"Commentary. This meatbag woman doesn't seem very intelligent. She likes Duke, after all"

"Oh hello, little robot" she said. "Do you want a hug too?"

"Answer. No meatbag. I would not. I would however like to Grind your corpse up into pieces. That would be much favorable"

"Oh, that sounds like fun" Grune said.

"Excuse me, Grune is it?" Kratos asked. "Could you tell us how to get out of here?"

"Oh. You want to leave? Theres a door over there" she said, as she tilted her head sideways.

"Thanks." Kratos said. "We should get going."

"Okay. See you later!" Grune told them.

"I sure hope so!" Duke said. "Whooo boy, she's a fine one!"

"Hey, Duke. Leave your hands off of my girl." Zelos told him.

"What does everyone see in Grune?" Lloyd asked Kratos.

Kratos face palmed himself. "Isn't it obvious?'

Lloyd thought for a minute. "Yeah, I guess she does seem nice, doesn't she?"

"Well yeah..." Kratos said, surprised that Lloyd answered in such a way. Though his son didn't understand why Zelos and Duke were interested in Grune, Kratos was actually happy that his son wasn't more like them.

Before reaching the stairs again, they saw another sign. This time it said "Item Creation" This was something Kratos was actually very interested in. "Let's go in here for a moment Lloyd".

Everyone else seemed to follow them. Two people were there, creating items. On the left, there was a young man, with blonde hair, and a green cape. He looked a lot like a magician. On the right, there was a young woman, with light blue hair, and was very scantily clad. It didn't take much to guess which one Duke and Zelos stared at.

"Well if you aren't the cutest girl I've ever seen!" Zelos said. "Wow. This place is crawling with hunnies"

"Tee-hee" Jeane said. "nobody's ever called me cute before"

"What a shame!" Zelos said. "The guys on your world clearly have no taste"

"Damn right" Duke said. "You're a real babe! Just like Grune"

"Oh, tee-hee. You've met Grune?"

Duke and Zelos spent the never few moments staring at Grune, while Kratos talked with the young man.

"So what exactly do you do here?" Kratos asked.

"I'm Klein, and that's Jeane. We both create items imbued with magic upon peoples request. We also allow people to create their own items from scratch here. Though most people aren't too good at it."

Kratos was very excited at he prospect. Items would be useful in the tournament. He wondered if he could find some of the materials necessary to make some items that he wished to make. He thought better than to ask Lloyd. He figured that the best person to ask was Klein.

"Mana leaf huh?" Klein said. "Jeane could probably help you better than I could"

Kratos was surprised at that. Jeane didn't sound, or look very intelligent. She reminded him a little of Grune in fact. Though, somehow they were very different. Grune seemed oblivious to things, while Jeane seemed to just have a plain carefree nature about her.

"Excuse me, can you tell me" he started.

"Mana Leaf?" Jeane asked. "Tee-hee. I think you can find it in the forbidden forest"

"Jeane is the magic expert at he castle. She knows more about magic than anybody here." Klein explained. "Though you probably couldn't tell by the way she was dressed. The ESRB had a field day over that."

"ESRB?" Lloyd asked.

"Doesn't matter" Klein said. "They can't touch us here."

"Thank god for that!" Duke bellowed out.

"Of course, it wouldn't be fair if they told all the lovely ladies how they could dress" Zelos followed through.

"Query. How ever did Zelos get into Konami, the smart house" HK-47 said flat out.

"Zelos is really smart!" Lloyd said.

"Commentary. I don't feel that you are the best judge of intelligence, meatbag."

Though HK-47 was right about that, Zelos HAD ended up in Konami house. All of a sudden the rain stopped. It was nighttime by now though.

"We should get back to our Common Rooms" Kratos ordered. "You need a good nights rest Lloyd. Don't.."

"I know. I know. Don't do this, don't do that. I'm not going to get into trouble!" Lloyd said.

And with that, they all started up the stairs that had inadvertently lead them on a tour of the 1st floor of the castle. Everyone else was slowly returning to their common rooms. Everyone... except Sephiroth.

"Zelos." he said.

Zelos turned around. "What ever could you want with the invaluable Zelos?"

Sephiroth smiled. "I just thought... we ought to introduce each other. I can tell, after all, you're a man who likes to be on the winning side of things"

Sephiroth was right about that. Zelos liked winning more than anything. Why choose the losing side if you don't have to?

"That's just something for you to think about" Sephiroth said. With that, Zelos entered the Konami Common Room.

"The weak strive to get weaker" Magus said, standing behind him, ready to enter the Namco Common room.

Sephiroth only smiled at the wizards attempt to insult him. He then headed towards the Sony common room himself, ready to look over some of the books he had brought back from the library. It was going to be a long night.

By Cloud and Squall


	52. Worth

**Worth**

Tom Nook sighed, sitting on the rug in the Sony common room. He glared at one of the few chairs in the room, which Ganondorf was lazily stretched out on. He had actually gotten up earlier than anyone else, still on his store schedule internal clock, but had opted not to sit in the chair, knowing that he would just be muscled out of it by one of the bigger people. And he couldn't allow that yet.

Tom Nook knew the power of first impressions. He knew most of the contestants in Sony house had no idea as to why a cute little raccoon was stuck with a bunch of clearly evil people. Because he hadn't made a name for himself or stuck out in any way, people were quicker to ignore him and concentrate. Some of the smarter contestants were still holding out judgement on him, knowing he couldn't have been put in Sony house without good reason.

However, he saw the looks in other contestants' eyes. Tom Nook knew that they were already thinking he was a harmless little animal, no matter his placement. And harmless in Sony house meant you probably died within the hour. Since he hadn't proven or disproved their theories with a first impression yet, he could still make them think he wasn't someone to trifle with.

Opportunity came in the form of Kefka, who, crossing the carpet and not paying attention, tripped over Tom Nook. Kefka ungracefully stumbled to the carpet, earning a few snickers from some of the others. Disgraced, he whirled around and directed a scorching glaze at the little vermin who had dared to put himself in the same room as himself, where he might trip. Expecting to see a cowering, blubbering raccoon begging for forgiveness, he instead saw a raccoon that didn't even seem to have noticed that Kefka had tripped over him.

"You!" the urchin turned around to look at Kefka. "You should be prostrating yourself before me, kissing my feet, groveling for your life after what you did!" Did the animal look a little…smug? No, impossible. "Why should I apologize because you were too busy daydreaming to watch where your big clown feet were stepping?" the raccoon answered calmly.

The entire room perked up. Something exciting was happening. Kefka stayed silent, but the air around him started to crackle with magical energy. Most of the people in the room were bored, and were a bit bloodthirsty even when there was action going on. A diversion from this…ugh…peacetime, would be welcomed by all, even if it simply consisted of a little raccoon being made into a stain on the carpet.

Instead, they saw Tom Nook stand up, casually dust off his Nookington's uniform, and reach into his pocket. He pulled out a simple leaf, and tossed it at Kefka. "Catch." Kefka stared at the leaf for a second before snatching it out of the air, confused. Was this the only resistance to be offered from the creature? Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke, and a large coffee table rapidly expanded out of the space where the leaf had been. Kefka cried out and was immediately crushed under the furniture.

Yelling out curses, Kefka futilely tried to move the coffee table from his chest. He was a mage, not a bodybuilder. He finally blasted the chair, sending dust and wood scrapings flying across the room. As Kefka stood up, he winced; his ribs were bruised, and it HURT. That little thing had HURT HIM. "YOU LITTLE-" Kefka began, right before he was cut off by a shovel smacking into his face. Kefka fell to the floor, clutching his nearly-broken jaw.

The rest of the room was in awe. The shovel was nearly bigger than Nook himself, but he was wielding it as if it was as light as a stick, or fishing rod, or something.

Two sharp raps sent Kefka howling and wondering whether to hold his jaw or his kneecaps. Tom Nook jumped onto Kefka's bruised chest, gently laughing as if it were all a big game. Kefka's cries of pain turned to cries of rage, how dare that thing embarrass him so, he would fry it, fry it and dance on his grave woah wait time out where did that thing get an axe?

Tom Nook held the axe in both hands, poised as if ready to strike Kefka down. It was against the rules, of course, and despite all the pain Kefka was in, he doubt he would be able to before the clown destroyed him. It didn't matter, though. It was all about appearances.

"You assumed I was a harmless little raccoon, didn't you? That I was easy pickings. Well, my clownish friend," Tom Nook said, chortling as he drove the axe into the floor with great ease for someone of his size. "Appearances deceive. You of all people should know that, jester." he finished in an altogether more sinister voice.

Then Tom Nook was a different person, cheerfully stowing away the axe and walking away as if nothing had happened. "Oh, and by the way, I will be procuring random odds and ends for an unofficial shop I plan to be opening soon. Who knows? Maybe one of them will make the swelling go down, jester! For a price, of course!" He left the room laughing, leaving everyone else rethinking their strategies.

---

"Hey, you! Pyramid thing! What is wrong with you?" Ganondorf sauntered up to the thing in the corner. "You don't move, talk, eat, or even sleep! What are you, anyway?"  
Everyone else in the room silently agreed, remembering that Pyramid Head, as the roster had called it, had done nothing but silently stand in the corner ever since it's arrival.

That didn't change. Instead of responding to Ganondorf, it didn't move at all. "Oh, too good for the rest of us? Too above us to even speak to us? Is that it?" Ganondorf said threateningly."

Pyramid Head moved ever so slightly, turning its head towards Ganon's. If you could see its face, you would have said it was looking Ganondorf straight in the eyes. Ganondorf met the stare defiantly. Then, strangely, his eyes glazed over, and it looked as if he were in another world. After a few seconds he snapped back to reality, violently shaking. Ganondorf leaned over and vomited, emptying his stomach in response to the experience he had just head.

For the longest time, no one even dared to glance in Pyramid head's direction.

By KamikazePotato


	53. Do you know Triedge

**Village Fic: Do you know Tri-Edge?**

Haseo was starting to lose his patience with this place. No, scratch that; he had lost his patience when some flying pink marshmallow had given him a first-hand tour of its digestive system. The people here were, at best, freaks, and, to top things off, NONE of them seemed to know a thing about Tri-Edge. Still, though, he hadn't talked to all of them...maybe some of the others knew something? Hell, it wasn't like he had anything else to do after that weird woman dragged him here. Mentally ticking off the places he hadn't been yet, he started to make his way to the lake; hopefully, he'd learn something before he lost his sanity.

As he walked up to the lake's edge, he could see an older woman in...was that tinfoil she was wearing? Some sort of reflective clothing, anyway. Her blonde hair was slicked back and her arms were outstretched. Before he could call out to her, she shouted, "Is that you, The Sorrow? Are you watching over me even now?" Almost as if responding to her call, the sky let loose a small shower of rain, even though the night sky had been cloudless before. Haseo wondered if she could control weather...or if she was another loon.

"Hey, lady! Do you know about Tri-" Haseo was cut off as the woman suddenly turned, her eyes ablaze with fury. Before he could finish his words, the woman had A. knocked him down, B. trapped his body in some weird fighting maneuver, and C. put a pistol to his throat. Understandably, Haseo was just a wee bit worried; this lady was obviously more screwed up than he was. "H-hey, now, let's not get too-"

"Shut up! Who are you working for? The Philosophers? Haven't I done enough for them already?" The Boss said, venom lacing her voice, "I gave them my life once. I don't intend to give a repeat performance." Before Haseo could even ask her what the hell she was talking about, a swift punch to the face sent him to nighty-night land.

---

Haseo woke with a start; he was now in one of the side streets, with no memory at all of how he got there. Did someone save him from that crazy broad? Did she drag him here to die? Pushing these questions out of his mind, he got up and dusted himself off. In front of him was a some sort of market, run by...what the hell were Rabbids? Shaking his head, he walked in; maybe someone in here could give him the answers he seeked, or at least some Advil for his aching head.

Roughly 34 seconds later, Haseo regretted his decision wholeheartedly. In that short span of time, he had been hit with 24.5 plungers, was attacked by no less than thirteen screaming rabbit...things, and was most likely going deaf from the repeated screams of "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Yanking one of the many plungers off of his armor, he made a mental note to never ever ever look at rabbits in the same light again. However, he wasn't the only one who had barely escaped with his dignity. Sitting on the ground in front of him was a shirtless child with a massive red scarf tied around his neck, doing his best to remove a plunger from his face. In most circumstances, Haseo would've found the whole situation to be fairly hilarious; as it was, though, he was expecting the kid to start shooting flaming mudballs out of his armpits or crush people just by looking at them or spit fiery demons from his mouth.

Unfortunately for Haseo, he was somewhat right. The child's hands were now aflame, trying to rip the pesky plunger off of his face. The boy screamed something that sounded something like "Mam ham deh maghtay ovurlurd rahal!" as he continued to try to pull the plunger from his face. When this proved to be similarly ineffective, the child lost his temper and pulled out a sword that was at least as tall as he was, trying to slice through the thick rubber. After a few moments, he freed himself from his rubbery prison. Without warning, the child screamed, "Behold the power of a mighty Overlord! Not even the strongest bathroom appliance can silence my voice forever! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!"

He kept on laughing for five long minutes.

In time, the boy seemed to realize that he wasn't alone; turning to face Haseo, he continued in his haughty voice, "So, you were witness to my great power, eh? You must be shaking in your boots to see the awe-inspiring strength of the great Overlord Laharl!"

Haseo was certainly shaking, alright; shaking in laughter. This kid was pathetic! He couldn't even get a plunger off of his face! Trying to suppress another chuckle, Haseo replied, "Yeah, sure. snrk!" Remembering why he had left the safety of his room, Haseo continued, "Hey, kid. Do you happen to know a guy named Tri-Edge? Kinda covers himself in blue flame, looks like he wears clothes made from a quilt?"

Haseo's question, just as before, seemed to elicit a violent response from the kid. "Kid? KID?! Do you have any idea who you're talking to, mortal? I am the great Laharl, Overlord of the Underworld! Many have tried to match their power with mine, only to be destroyed in but a flick of my wrist! And you would dare call me child?!" Laharl, or whatever his name was, was acting as if he had just broken his favorite toy or something.

"Hey, calm down, kid. I'm not looking for any trouble. All I want is some information, and then you can go back to doing...whatever the hell you were doing."

Laharl's eyes glowed a violent yellow; Haseo could tell that the kid wasn't one for playing nice. "Alright, mortal, I'll give you one last chance to apologize...on your knees! Bow to the great Laharl, and pledge your eternal allegiance to the greatest Overlord there is...or face the consequences!" Laharl brandished his sword again and let loose another of his long laughs, as if to drive his point home.

Haseo groaned; the kid wasn't going to be any help at all. He seriously doubted he would know anything about Tri-Edge; hell, he'd be surprised if the kid knew anything about anyone that wasn't himself! Sighing, he turned to leave...only to be lifted into the air. Looking down, he saw the kid holding him effortlessly, his sword planted into the ground. Haseo blinked; this night was just getting weirder and weirder by the second. "H-hey, kid, put me down and we can talk about this. There's no need to...what the hell are you doing, anyway?"

Laharl smiled in a way that gave Haseo chills; grinning wildly, the child Overlord said, "Why, I'm just going to give you a little lift. You don't mind-" Laharl reared back, almost as if he was preparing to-no, that would be insane, there's no way he could "DO YOU!?" Before Haseo could scream "WTF", he found himself flying over the main street of the small village they had been confined to, passing over houses until he found himself approaching the fence separating the village from the seemingly endless plains. Preparing for a violent and painful crash, Haseo instead found himself rolling once he hit the ground. Before you could say "Deus ex Machina", Haseo found himself in front of a mysterious, cloth-covered portion of the fence. Struggling to get up, he was greeted by some weird guy dressed in a bulging coat-oh God he's a flasher isn't he.

Haseo was frantic; he had been attacked by old women, small children, and the most screwed up rabbits this side of Chuck Jones. The last thing he needed right now was seeing some naked old guy. Before he could run, the stranger said, "Welcome! Got a lot of good things on sale!" and dragged him through the hole to some cave. The only illumination was a blue flame set upon a large candlestick. Letting go of Haseo, the strange man known only as the Merchant grabbed the side of his coat and pulled it open.

The Terror of Death let out a sigh of relief; thankfully, this strange, strange man had clothes underneath his coat. Then he noticed the weapons. An almost impossible amount of weapons of all shapes, sizes, and styles were hooked into the coat pockets, forming the strangest and most mis-matched armory he had ever seen. Without waiting for Haseo to say somehthing, the Merchant asked, "What're ye buyin'?"

Haseo blinked; was this guy for real? "Uh...nothing?"

The Merchant grunted, shifting his weight. Before Haseo could turn around and flee, he asked, "What're ye sellin'?" Apparently, Haseo was supposed to say something, because the Merchant continued, "Ahhh, I'll buy it at a high price!"

Just then, an idea struck Haseo; this guy was probably well-traveled, so maybe, just maybe he knew something about Tri-Edge. Looking at the Merchant with determination, he asked, "Do you know Tri-Edge?"

Apparently, the Merchant thought it was a weapon, as his response was simply "Ahh, I'll buy it at a high price!"

Haseo groaned, "No, it's not weapon, it's a PK!" After seeing the Merchant's blank look, he continued, "A Player Killer. You know, like a murderer? Have you ever heard of him?"

The Merchant appeared to be deep in thought, closing his eyes. Haseo gulped with anticipation; maybe this guy did know something about Tri-Edge after all! Maybe he could help him save Shino and stop it from ever happening ag-

"Got a lot of good things on sale, Strangah!"

The last thing Haseo remembered was running out of the room, screaming in rage, frustration, and maybe just a little bit of insanity.

---

Haseo was exhausted; the people here were insane! None of them made sense! This place didn't make sense! What the hell was he doing here?! Sighing in frustration, he rubbed his temples; the sooner he got out of this place and away from all the loonies here, the better. Resolving to return to his room, he bypassed some strange little blue toad that kept asking him if he "lieked mudkips". If only he had someone here who could just...just...

Haseo had no other choice but to admit it. "I need some help..." He muttered, ashamed at himself.

Before he could wallow in some more self-pity, a well-dressed man with a giant red pompadour jumped out from behind a nearby tree. Grasping his microphone like he depended on it with his life, Agent J shouted, "Did I just hear that you needed help?"

Haseo was, at this point, nonplussed by Agent J's somewhat odd appearance; compared to the whackos here, he looked completely normal. Sighing, he muttered, "Well, I can't find any information about Tri-Edge..."

Agent J seemed to ignore Haseo's current pathetic state, shouting with unbridled energy and pep, "Well, why don't I just help you along...through song and dance!" The agent posed, as if expecting music to somehow start playing. Once the agent realized that nothing was happening, he blinked; this had never happened before! What was with this place?!

Haseo's patience was really starting to run thin. After all he had been put through, all he wanted to do at this point was to just sleep. "Well, if you don't have any information about him, get out of my way..."

The Elite Beat Agent regained his composure (and his freakishly shiny teeth), shouting, "Well, that's no problem, because I do have information!" Continuing without caring about Haseo's stunned look, he shouted, "Why, some guy with this weird three-edged thing was skulking around that back alley! You can't miss him!"

Haseo was shocked; he finally had a lead in this damn place! Running past the agent without even bothering to thank him, he grabbed his scythe from his inventory and leaped into the specified alley, his weapon drawn. Seeing the shadowed figure, he shouted, "I've finally got you, Tri-Edge!"

What Haseo failed to realize was that Pyramid Head wasn't in a good mood. Though, come to think of it, Pyramid Head was never in a good mood. Fortunately for Haseo, he learned that lesson real quickly as he fled from the alley, running from the otherworldly screeches of the demon. As he fled back to his room, he swore that he'd find that Lucretia woman and beat the stuffing out of her for some nice, deserved payback. Assuming his mind wouldn't snap before then, of course.

By Twilight the Fox


	54. Deception

**Deception**

Zelos looked around the hallway, eyes straining to find some new eye candy. Nothing. His vow to find every female in the castle and ogle them at least once was becoming harder as time went on. Maybe they were catching on. It didn't matter; no one kept the great Zelos from his hunnies! Not even the hunnies themselves!

Zelos walked a bit and peered down another hallway. Duke Nukem was in there, without his shirt on, flexing and posing for another man with silver hair Zelos hadn't seen before. The man appeared to be attempting to claw his eyes out. His own eyes, not Duke's. "And you said the Duke wasn't as strong as you! Bet you feel stupid now, eh? Just look at these!" The silver-haired man groaned, averting his gaze, fighting the instinct people had to look at things that both horrified and disgusted you. "You have no idea."

Zelos turned around and started walking back toward Konami house, his drive to see beautiful women in pain and screaming to be put down. Oh well, Zelos thought. There's always tomorrow. Maybe I can put superglue on a sweater and tell Duke if he wears it all the ladies will want him. As his mind searched for ways to avoid more hazardous confrontations with the strange man, his eyes caught a glimpse of a person walking in a hallway adjacent to his. She passed from sight quickly enough, going into another hallway, but Zelos knew a lady when he saw one. And he didn't think he'd seen this one before.

Zelos quickly but silently ran up to the hallway. He stopped for a second, listening around the corner for any possible noises that may have been caused by shirtless men, then entered the hallway. It as a woman all right, and one he hadn't seen before. It was time to grace her with his presence. "Well hello there. What's a beautiful lady like you doing all alone?" The woman stopped and turned around, eyeing him with an indifferent stare. "My name is Zelos, and I-" Zelos was cut short by the woman swiftly kicking him between the legs.

"Ow, OW! What was that for!?" The woman walked by him, ignoring his cries of pain. "That was preemptive action. I know your kind. Don't talk to me again." She started to walk down the hallway Zelos had come from. "No, wait! Don't go down there!" Zelos managed to get out. The woman stared at him coolly. "Oh? Why shouldn't I?" From down the hallway, someone screamed. "GAH! Duke? What are you doing? Put some clothes on! "Get him away from me!"

The woman stood still for a moment, then, shaking her head, turned around again and started walking away. Zelos sighed. He had taken enough abuse for today. It was time he headed back to Konami house.

As his wobbling steps eventually became wary limps, Zelos was surprised to see that he had kept up with the woman and seemed to be taking the same route as her. Not wanting to incur her wrath, he kept his distance. This was difficult, as she was walking slowly, with an air of self-importance around her. She was probably in Namco house. And her form! He could walk arrogantly way better than she could. People like her should just leave it to the professionals. When he was almost to Konami house entrance, she whirled around, apparently angry at him.

"Stop following me. Don't play dumb, I know you're doing it. Was a kick in the balls not enough to spell out my intentions?" Zelos took a step back. He knew better than most that when dealing with an angry woman, it was good to have some distance between her in case things went sour. "Whoa! Back up. This is the shortest route to where I wanted to go. Trust me, you had nothing to do with it." Wrong answer. "Oh, first you hit on me and now I'm not good enough for you?" Yup, she had lost him. "Creep!" She started to walk faster, and Zelos had to run to keep up. "Lady, you're being unreasonable!" When they reached the door to Konami house, she put her hand on the doorknob, stopping to give Zelos a scathing look. Zelos paled, but not because of the look. "At least I'll have some freedom from you in here!" She opened the door to Konami house, walked in, and slammed the door behind her.

Zelos walked up to the door, slowly turned the doorknob, and walked into Konami house.

"You just don't give up, do you? You're not allowed to be in here!" Zelos flinched, waiting to be slapped, but it never happened. He was luckier than he thought he was. "Actually, for your information, I'm in Konami house too. I have every right to be here as you do." The woman snorted, not bothering to hide her disbelief. "Oh really? You, in the house that clearly has the smartest people in it. I find that hard to believe." Before Zelos could respond, he was cut off by laughter from an old, gray-haired man wearing a texan-style outfit.

"Oh, believe it, Lara. Even if he doesn't show it, he's definitely in Konami house. I've seen him before. Although, not much. He seems to spend most of his time outside, looking at women." Zelos wasn't looking at Lara, but he could feel her glare anyway. "Although," the old man laughed, "I myself think it was a filing error. This house is reserved for people with IQs higher than room temperature."

"Hey, I take offense to that, Mr….uh…" "Revolver Ocelot." "Revolver Ocelot. What makes you so smart, then?" "Well then, Mr…" "Zelos Wilder." "Zelos Wilder. Why don't we see who's smarter?" Lara suppressed a laugh. This should be good. "A competition? You're on! I'll even let you choose the game." Ocelot didn't bother suppressing his laugh. "Alright then. Follow me. Miss Croft, don't follow, this is just between the two of us. When I win, I'll tell you how it went."

---

They were in a small, dark room. Zelos didn't know exactly what it was. Maybe a closet? There was a small table, though, so that was unlikely. "This room was constructed for private talks between people. I guess they figured people in this house would need a place like this. Now, have you heard of Russian Roulette?" Zelos shook his head. Ocelot pulled out three guns, skillfully twirling and tossing them between his hands. Zelos tensed for a second, and then relaxed when he remembered the rules. No killing outside of matches.

"The true version of Russian Roulette is played with real bullets, but for this one we'll use blanks. You insert one bullet, or one blank, into the chamber of the gun. You juggle the guns a bit so no one knows which one the bullet is in, then we take turns putting the gun up to our head and pulling the trigger." Zelos shuddered, wondering why anyone would invent such a sadistic game. "Yeah…I'm not the expert on your fun little murder game, but this seems more luck than anything. I thought this was going to be a battle of wits." Ocelot grinned. "Oh, you'll see."

Ocelot loaded one of his revolvers, spun the chamber, then clicked it into place with a flick of his wrist. "You do know what a blank is, don't you?" Zelos scratched his head, then shrugged. "I think. It's like a bullet, only it isn't nearly as deadly and doesn't penetrate the skin. Right?" Ocelot nodded. "Good. Then we're ready." Instead of juggling the revolvers around, he set them on the table, placing them side by side. What was intelligent about this? They both knew what the loaded gun was.

Then Ocelot closed his eyes and promptly kicked over the table. Zelos stumbled, slamming his back against the door as the revolvers went scattering around the room. "Ow, man! Why does everyone keep trying to hurt me today?" Ocelot opened his eyes, although he continued to stare at the ceiling. "There. I didn't see where they went, and I doubt you were paying attention either. The game will be truly random now." Zelos grumbled, rubbing his back as he replaced the revolvers on the table, side by side. "Fine. Whatever. You go first, old man."

Ocelot, laughed, and picked up a revolver. The boy was such a fool. He assumed that because neither of them had known which gun was loaded when he put them on the table, that both of them would continue to be ignorant of it was the game went on. Ocelot felt the gun in his hands, giving it an almost unnoticeable caress before point it at his head and pulling the trigger. How many times had he used them, now? He knew each one intricately, like an old war friend who had never left his side. The feel and texture of each gun was slightly different in its own unique way, and he could tell them apart easily. The revolver clicked, and he set it down. It wasn't the one.

"1 down, and 17 possible shots to go. Think you can handle the pressure, boy?" Zelos grinned, trying to look confident. "No problem, Ocelot." He picked up the middle revolver, attempting to twirl it on his fingers as he had seen Ocelot do. It slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor, making a clacking sound as it bounced. Ocelot held back any insult or remark he usually liked to make, feeling that the boy was doing a fine job of embarrassing himself. Zelos sheepishly picked up the revolver, eyeing it warily before putting it up to his head. He flinched as he pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Visibly relieved, the boy replaced the revolver where it had been.

Ocelot picked up the revolver no one had touched before, and felt a surge of satisfaction. This was it. He pretended to hesitate before pulling the trigger. Click. He set it back down, knowing he had won. The boy had also assumed he didn't know how to fix a game. He know how to spin the chamber so the gun wouldn't be fired until the sixth shot, every time. And since he had gone first, and knew which gun was loaded, no matter how they picked up the revolvers from there, Zelos would always be the one to fire that last unlucky shot.

On his next turn Ocelot picked up the same gun on his next turn, and fired. Click. Zelos used that same gun on his next turn, despite the fact that it had been fired more meant the chances of the next shot being the real one were higher. Click. He thought Ocelot knew something, and was sticking with the safe route. The boy had no intelligence whatsoever. Ocelot chose it again, and fired. Click. Zelos followed suit. Click. That was five. The next one would decide the loser.

Ocelot picked up the middle revolver, fired it, then returned it. There was no particular reason Ocelot had left that one revolver with only one shot left, except that he took a strange satisfaction out of watching his opponent try the other revolvers, only to slowly realize that the last gun had the real shot, and that they had no way to avoid being the one to pull the trigger. Zelos would do the same, desperately choosing the other revolvers until he could only choose one.

Or so Ocelot thought, as Zelos chose that same revolver on his next turn. The boy was even more stupid than he had thought! No one ever took the sixth shot in Russian Roulette. This made Ocelot disappointed, it meant the game would be over sooner, with no fun waiting game.

Zelos then pointed the revolver straight at Ocelot.

"Game's over, Ocelot. I know you put a real bullet in this."

Ocelot was floored. How did…he was an expert on readings emotions, thoughts, intents, and then using those to manipulate someone into doing whatever he pleased. Before he could stop himself, he let out a "How…". With that one word, he had eliminated any chance of bluffing his way out of this situation. How had the boy known?

"Don't think I'll be telling you how I found out. I don't like to give my enemies tips on how to improve themselves. I'll just say I'm smarter than you figured." Zeloss hand gripped the revolver tightly, his finger touching the trigger. "Now, I don't know why you wanted to kill me. I doubt you'll tell me if I ask, and if you do, you'll just lie. We also both know that I can't kill you, it's against the rules. How you were planning on killing me and getting away with it, I don't know either. You must have had something planned. However…" Zelos pointed the gun at his own arm.

"If I run out of this room with a gunshot wound, who's going to believe it wasn't you who did it? I'm not popular, but that's because everyone thinks I'm a moron who isn't a threat to anyone. Even unintentionally, you've already made a small name for yourself in intelligence and scheming. After all, who else could've done it? Why would stupid Zelos shoot himself?" Ocelot held his breath. For once, he didn't know where someone was going with a conversation.

"Let's make things clear. I have my own plans, Ocelot. And I do not want you interfering in them. I won't go after you, but if I even hear you're coming after me, I'll make sure you don't last long. Understand?" Ocelot surprised himself by nodding. He wasn't put in situations like this. It just didn't happen. "I'll be keeping this, by the way." Zelos stowed away the revolver, never taking his eyes off of Ocelot. "A reminder that when you mess with me, there's going to be a price. Next time, the price will be much higher. See you around, Ocelot."

Lara heard the door open, and saw a dejected-looking Zelos walk out and close the door behind him. "Aw, man! I almost had him! I was this close!'" Lara laughed. "Did you really think you could outwit Ocelot? He's one of the smarter people here, and that's saying something. You're…you." Dejection turned to outrage. "Hey! Take that back!" Lara laughed again. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed so harmless, but she was warming up to him already. Ocelot was probably right about there having been a filing mishap, as there was no way a buffoon like Zelos should've been in Konami.

By KamikazePotato


	55. I've covered tournaments you know

**Village Fic: I've covered tournaments, you know.**

FLASH

"Perfect!" Frank West shouted to no one in particular; he had just photographed one of Crono's flashier moves during one of his sparring sessions with Mario Mario. Even though most of the challengers didn't enjoy getting photographed, it seemed as if both Mario and Crono enjoyed it; from what Frank could gather, they had developed some sort of friendly rivalry. Frank didn't quite understand it all, but it was on his list of stories to expose while he was here at this strange small town called "Lucretia's Bend."

However, first and foremost on that list was why this tournament was even happening to begin with. Calling people from different realities just to fight? Especially when some of those people stood no chance of winning a match? Something about that just didn't click with Frank; the tournament owners HAD to have some sort of reason behind it...and the more sinister it was, the more papers it would sell!

Never mind that this place had no form of newspaper whatsoever.

But, if Frank did want the scoop of this tournament, he wouldn't find it here; no, he had a feeling that all the secrets to this tournament were locked away in that big, mysterious castle. First things first, he'd have to interview Flame and Blood...why did the two sponsors never show themselves? What were they hiding? Why was Yoshimitsu running at him with his sword drawn-OHDEARGOD YOSHIMITSU WAS RUNNING AT HIM WITH HIS SWORD DRAWN!

Frank, using the experience he had acquired after fighting zombies in a mall from three to seven days, screamed like a little girl and reached for the nearest blunt object with which to hit the ninja. This turned out to be an unsuspecting Bidoof, which went flying into the ninja's stomach. Seeing the entire "fight", CATS screamed, "BIDOOF HAS USING HEADBUTT! THAT EXTREMENESS IS EFFECTIVE!" while Yoshimitsu let out a weak "Namu..." as he clutched his stomach. Bidoof, being, well, Bidoof, just sat there, not knowing why it had moved or why it was here or who it was. While it was not exactly what Frank wanted in a defensive maneuver, he shrugged and fled Yoshimitsu's dojo, ignoring the curious stares from both Mario and Crono.

---

"You see, the key to investigative journalism is investigating! It lets you find all sorts of interesting things...like, for example, corrupt politicians, zombie outbreaks, real sexy women, and the like!"

"Tee hee! That sounds interesting, Mr. Reporter" The runic sorceress and extremely hot babe Jeane said, "But I fail to see what this has to do with little old me!"

It took all of Frank's willpower to not drool at the mere sight of this woman; no one he had ever seen before even came close! Fighting back the urge to move closer, he continued, "Well, I hear that the tournament sponsors don't really show themselves much...Do you think they're hiding anything from us?"

"Tee hee...I wouldn't know, Mr. Reporter. I'm just a simple" Oh God, her chest kept on bouncing, "little sorceress who was lucky enough to be invited here to work. But they picked you to fight...that would make you more interesting than little old me. So, what secrets are you hiding, Mr. Reporter?" Jeane's tone was sugary sweet, her words practically oozing off of her lips. Had Frank been in a clearer state of mind, he would have seen that she was trying to manipulate him. As it was...

"When I was in third grade, I used to steal baseball cards from the local comic shop. When I was 15, I found my dad's secret stash of adult magazines and hid a few in my room. I committed tax fraud when I was 24, and I haven't really-" Thankfully, Jeane's finger silenced Frank's wave of confession; he didn't know how, but it was like the woman gave off some sort of charming aura that turned men into putty in her hands. Blushing, he held up his camera, "W...would you like a picture, Ms. Jeane?"

The sorceress smiled, "Oh, I suppose it couldn't hurt. Which side do you think would be my best, Mr. Reporter?" The sorceress got into many poses that would cause most normal men to break down in tears of joy. As it was, it was all Frank could do to raise his camera to his face. Fortunately, that let him enter his zone. With the camera in front of him, Frank was a picture-taking machine! Nothing could break him from his trance; not cultists, not waves of zombies, and not this incredibly sexy woman.

After snapping a few pictures and lowering his camera, however, Frank became once more vulnerable to Jeane's charms. However, sexy as she was, Jeane wasn't able to fully suppress Frank's desire to seek the truth. Thinking quickly, Frank excused himself to go find a bathroom; he reasoned to himself that he could easily come back later and ogle Jeane more after he had found something interesting in the castle.

His camera in hand, Frank made his way to one of the stairwells. Though there was bound to be something interesting in the upper levels, the castle basement seemed even more mysterious; of all of his fellow competitors he asked, only four had gone down there, and they hadn't even explored the place fully. Trusting in his instincts, Frank descended into the depths of the castle, set on finding something nice and juicy. So focused on it, in fact, that he failed to notice the footsteps behind him.

---

Frank staggered out of the stairwell, acting like he had a hangover. Hell, he felt like he was hung over, even though he didn't remember drinking a single drop of booze down in the castle. All he could remember was his talk with Jeane, deciding to go into the basement, and then...nothing. The only thing that came to mind was a gut fear of the basement, telling him never to go back down there. To top matters off, he found a couple of pictures in his camera's memory that he didn't remember taking. Wherever he took them, there wasn't much light, for all he could see was silhouettes of giant, for lack of a better word, things. Some of them had a human shape, but as far as he could tell, they weren't human...Shaking his head, he trudged towards his common room. Maybe a few hours of sleep could help him remember what happened...

As Frank headed towards the Nintendo dorm, he never realized that two pairs of eyes were watching him leave. Lucretia glanced at her companion, giving a wry smile. "Well, I suppose that will make sure he doesn't go snooping around where he's not meant to. But did you have to show him? If he does remember and he tells the others..."

"Tee hee! There's no reason to worry, Lucretia. My Charm Rune does more than make me look pretty. Mr. Reporter won't remember a thing."

Lucretia sighed, "Why take him to see them, then, if you were going to erase his memory anyway? You took an unnecessary risk back there. We can't have anyone finding out about them just yet."

Jeane merely smiled. "He was nice to me. I figured I might as well give him a couple of treats before doing my job."

The tactician gave the sorceress an inquisitive glance. "'A couple?' Jeane, what else did you show him."

"Tee hee! When a man and a woman get tog-"

Lucretia blushed. Speaking quickly, she waved Jeane away, "That's more than enough, Jeane. Just...get back to your shop. And next time, when someone sneaks down there, don't take any chances."

Jeane's giggling echoed through the hallways as she went back to her shop.

By Twilight the Fox


	56. Adjusting to life

**Adjusting to Life**

Wander steadily climbed up the side of the building, ignoring the mutterings of the people walking behind him. It was easy considering he didn't even know what they were saying. For all he knew they could've been marveling at his climbing ability, or insulting his weird behavior. Why did he seem to be the only one here that spoke a different language?

His hand found a faint indentation in the side, and he pulled himself up, his other hand searching for something else to grab on to. Why was he here, anyway? As far as he could tell the people here had been gathered from many far-off places, by the way they each dressed differently. But for what purpose?

Wander grabbed the top of the roof with both hands, pulling himself up and over the edge. What was this building used for, anyway? He couldn't read the signs and hadn't bothered to check inside before he had started climbing. He had just wanted to be alone for a little while, and he was used to high places at this point.

The people here…nothing seemed to be happening yet, but he had seen a few glimpses of some of the powers some of the people here possessed. Wander knew that he was good enough with a bow, and had unnatural ability with climbing, but he could barely wield his own sword without cutting himself. The others here were on a completely different level than him. He would feel insignificant compared to them if he hadn't faced down colossi and won.

Even so, if it came down to fighting, he would lose. Badly. Should he just forfeit from the start? Would they allow that? Would he only be allowed back home if he won? He was completely clueless about everything. He had even thought one of the people here was a colossus, if only for a second.

Funny, Wander thought, that he felt more alone now when surrounded by people then he ever did in the barren wasteland of the colossi. There he had Agro, and to a lesser extent, Dormin. Here, there was no one.

---

Vaan hurriedly rushed around the common room, vainly trying to restore order. He was nearly bowled over by Tingle, who was running away from Pac-Man, his mouth open as if thinking Tingle was some sort of food. Vaan didn't bother trying to help Tingle. Who would?

He finally reached the main source of the commotion: Matt the Mii was engaged in a fight with Guybrush. "Hah! With skinny arms, and large head, you look like some sort of bobblehead! Beware my rhyme, so very sublime, the more I verse, you'll do worse!"

Vaan slowed down his pace, sighing. He'd thought Guybrush had gotten into an actual fight, but as usual the would-be pirate was all talk, literally. He was more of a pirate than Guybrush was, probably.

And the rhyme sucked. It didn't even make sense. Apparently Matt thought the same thing, as he pulled back his freakishly deformed arm and punched Guybrush in the jaw. Vaan turned around and walked away; the matter would resolve itself.

He was then almost electrocuted by a thunderbolt that missed his hair by mere inches. A small raccoon-like creature ran through his legs, followed quickly by a tiny yellow rat that was hot on its tail. Bidoof and Pikachu seemed to be unable to repress the urge to battle other Pokemon.

As Bidoof was distracted by trying to get away from Pikachu, CATS seemed to appear out of nowhere. He…it grabbed Bidoof, screamed "ALL YOUR BIDOOFS ARE BELONG TO US", and ran off. Vaan kneaded his forehead; CATS seemed to do that to everything, and no one could make him stop.

As Vaan walked by the closet door, he heard a thumping noise. Cautiously, he slowly unlocked the door, then opened it to find a very tired looking soldier inside. "Uh…who are you?" Vaan asked. The soldier jumped out of the closet, making sure he was free before responding to Vaan's question.

"Name's Nathan Hale." "How did you get in there?' Nathan Hale turned his head around to look back at the closet. "Um…I don't quite remember. Someone pushed me in there, then locked the door…I think…but that's not important. What's important is that now I can escape from this hellhole!" Nathan Hale made a frantic dash for the doorway, only to find it blocked by a large snake-like creature.

"Who are you?"  
"HAY GUYS"  
"Um…okay. Can you let me through?"  
"HAY GUYS NOMINATE ME"  
"…Right. Can I PLEASE go through?"  
"ONLY IF YOU NOMINATE ME"

Nathan glanced at Vaan, who shrugged. "I don't know how to get him out of the way either." Nathan directed his gaze back toward the snake.

"Um…alright, I'll nominate you."  
"K THX"  
"…Can you let me through now?"  
"YOU HAVEN'T NOMINATED ME YET"

Nathan Hale snapped. "You let me through right now you stupid snake thing or I swear I'll-" he was cut off as the Midgar Zolom leaned down, opened its mouth, and in one quick motion swallowed Nathan Hale whole. "I AM HAPPY NOW"

Vaan didn't know what to do. His weapon had been stolen by someone (probably by CATS, who would've wanted all of Vaan's sword to belong to them), and he couldn't exactly overpower a giant snake with his bare hands. He could try magic, but it'd probably destroy the common room. Plus, he'd probably be swallowed as well while he took the time to cast. But he couldn't just leave behind perhaps the only sane person from Microsoft house that he'd met so far.

"Oh man, what do I do…someone HELP!"  
"Glad to be of assistance!"

Vaan turned to the direction of the voice, and found a suit-wearing man with an extremely curly hairdo standing next to him. "Usually I have some partners to help me with this, but for now I'll have to make do on my own. AGENTS! ARE…or rather, AGENT! IS! GO!"

The strange man jumped in front of the snake, and started to dance. And dance. And dance even more. Pretty soon, everyone except Vaan was dancing, enraptured by the man's twists, turns, steps, and gyrations. Finally, he ended up by turning around a circle again and again, pivoting on his foot. The snake followed, and when the man was done, the snake looked queasy.

"I AM DIZZY. THIS IS NO LONGER FUN." The snake then lowered its head and threw up, expelling a TV, a bunch of cards with people's names on them, Nathan Hale, an extremely long sword, and bottle of hair gel.

"OH NOES", the snake said, staring at the pile of cards. "MY NOMINATIONS. THIS MAKES ME SAD." The snake sulkily slithered away, and Vaan ran up to comfort a soggy and freaked out Nathan Hale. And to leave.

---

Manny Calavera slowly moved the cloth up and down on the blade of his scythe, polishing it until it shone as bright as the pearly gates. He certainly didn't have anything else to do in this weird place.

Business wasn't exactly booming. Maybe it was because his particular services were only applicable until after the customer's demise. Or maybe it was the skulls he had used to decorate the outside of the store, labeling each one as a valued customer. Or maybe people didn't like doing business with a talking skeleton. Either way, he didn't have anything to do.

I like some downtime, but I need to start generating some profit! Whoever's listening out there, just give me some customers and I'll…uh…stop smoking! Yeah, that.

An ear-piercing shriek signified that the front door had just been opened. Oh, yeah, that was another reason. Probably should've stuck with those little bells everyone else used.

Yeah…about that promise I made? I'll…do it later. Yeah. You know I'm good, right random spirit? Alright, thanks, catch ya later.

Manny turned to the door, seeing a young boy with spikey hair walking towards him. He seemed completely unperturbed by seeing an undead skeleton, although there were already some weird characters hanging around, so maybe he'd gotten used to strange people.

"This is a travel agency, right? I want to go somewhere."Manny leaned back in his chair, and blew out a puff of smoke. Not in the direction of the kid, of course.

"Kid, you seem nice, so I'll be honest with you. This is a travel agency for the dead. I sell tickets to get to the afterlife." The boy pulled out a sack of money and dropped it on the desk.

"That isn't a problem. I never existed, so you won't get in trouble for doing business with a living person." Manny didn't understand the not existing part, but the large sack of money spoke to him in many different languages. Mostly Portugese, for some reason.

"Alright, you want to go to the underworld, fine by me, kid." The boy shook his head. "No, I want to go to a different place in a different universe. It's called Twilight Town."

Manny sighed. "Look kid, I can't do that. I can only take people to the underworld, or else-" another sack of money was tossed onto the desk. "-else I'd lose money! But now I won't. I'll find your Twilight Town, kid. I'll need your name though, for the records."

"Roxas."

"Alright then, Roxas, when do you want to leave?

"As soon as possible."

"It'll take me a while to find your Twilight Town, but when I do I'll come straight to you. Deal?"

"Deal."

---

Ness walked through the halls of the castle, looking around. Nothing here.

He walked through the streets of the main plaza, hearing random snippets of conversation. From Dante telling people about how Duke had nearly blinded him the other day, or Riku and Sora arguing with Axel about the nature of how they were brought to this competition, or Vivi conversing Lloyd, trying to find a common ground of interest, or Mega Man and Zero comparing their technology with Samus' power suit.

But he also heard other thing. He knew that Axel really was sorry for forcing Sora and Riku to come, but that he also felt that he had no choice. He knew that Vivi, even while trying to act as if nothing was wrong, was scared about what would happen if he went back to his world, if he would die. He knew Mega Man and Zero were worried about preventing the destruction of their world, but didn't really know how to go about doing so.

Being a psychic wasn't as easy as people made it out to be. The thoughts of desperation and sorrow were not something any young boy should be able to know.

After a while, Ness stopped his outreach of thoughts. He had confirmed what he already thought; no one else from his world had been brought to the competition. He would have to start making new friends. It wasn't easy, he was actually kind of shy.

Then he felt someone's mind touching him.

It was a light touch, as if testing the waters. Ness followed its source back to a mind that seemed very alien to him. Another psychic? It appeared so. Without ever moving from his spot, Ness rapidly exchanged thoughts with the being known as Mewtwo, at a pace much faster than normal dialogue. They quickly reached a decision to form an alliance, and to only use their abilities to touch the mind of each other, and no one else. It would be best if no one else found out about their ability, and besides, it was just good manners not to go around listening to people's thoughts.

Ness broke off contact with Mewtwo, then turned around and walked in the opposite direction of where he now knew Mewtwo was. No one would know they had an alliance; for now, anyway. In the meantime, he'd try to find some friends. He spotted Vivi listening to Lloyd talk about swords or something, and went to see if he could join their conversation.

By KamikazePotato


	57. The First Dinner

**The First Dinner**

_Nintendo House_

With everyone locked in the common rooms, everyone in each of the houses was required for the first time to eat dinner together. For Nintendo House, this was no challenge, as most of the people managed to get along.

"So Luigi is your brother, right Mario?" Chris asked.

"Yes, he's-a my brother"

"I'm suprised he didn't get put into the same house as you" Leon said.

It wasn't really that odd that Luigi didn't get into Nintendo House. He had never been known for his braery. But then again, Namco wasn't a much better fit either. In fact, he fit in less over there, than here. But there had to be some reason for it. Mario, nor anyone else was just sure why. Truth be told, Mario was slightly worried for his brother, being in a house filled with a bunch of ruffians.

"Hey, Leon, Chris, Jill. You guys have fought Zombies before too right?" Frank asked.

"Yeah. We have" Jill answered for them.

"How do you guys do it? I mean they infested the mall back home. I had to use a baseball bat, and a golf club."

Leon, Jill and Chris were impressed. Fighting off Zombies with household objects was impressive to be sure. Especially for someone without any particular training.

"We usually use guns" Chris said, laughing.

"Lloyd" Sonic began. "Let's have a race tomorrow. The loser has to do the winners chores for a week"

Lloyd thought for a moment. Getting out of chores would be nice. But then he remembered that Sonic was the fastest thing alive. "No thanks Sonic. I think I'll pass on that one. Haha"

"We should do some training tomorrow, Frog" Crono said.

"Yes, lower thine guard and thou art letting thine enemy in!"

"Could someone please pass me some steak?" Ness asked politely.

"Here you go!" Pit said, handing him a plate of steak.

"Thanks Pit!"

As Banjo ate his honey, Kazooie tried to steal food from Wanders plate while he wasn't looking. Ever so often, she'd grab a bite to eat.

"That's not nice, Kazooie" Lloyd told her.

"Nobody asked you, brainiac" Kazooie retored.

"Oh wow, you must think I'm really smart to call me brainiac" Lloyd responded.

A couple of people at the table held in their laughs. They all liked Lloyd, he was a nice enough boy, but he wasn't too smart.

"What'd you get on your IQ test, a 70?" Kazooie asked.

"Not that high. It was somewhere around a 30" Lloyd said. "i don't really do well on tests".

"Yeah, I"m sure THATS the problem" Kazooie said.

"Don't be mean to the boy" Banjo asked.

"Oh come on, he was asking for it!"

"I wasn't asking for anything" Lloyd said, confused.

"See?" Kazooie responded.

Everyone ignored Kazooie, and continued with their dinner. Of course this didn't stop her from stealing food off of everyones plate, except Banjo's.

"Everyone should-a look out for Bowser. He can-a be very evil some-a-times." Mario told everyone.

"Oh please." Kazooie said. "If we can handle Dumbtilda, we can handle an overgrown turtle"

"He can-a breath fire!"

"Exciting. I'm sure." Kazooie said. "I can spit egg grenades, but you don't hear me bragging about it."

"Oh wow Banjo, you must be a really good fighter" Little Mac piped it.

"Shut up short stuff." Kazooie said.

"Yeah, Banjo. With Grenade eggs, you shouldn't have too much trouble doing well in the tournament" Frank added.

"What do you know, horror movie wannabe?"

"I've..." Frank started.

"Covered wars. We know. We know. You've told us only about sixty times." Kazooie reminded him.

"You're annoying, you know that?" Frank told her.

"I try my best."

"If it wasn't against the rules, I'd... I'd"

"Do what? Take a picture of me. Make sure to get my good side" Kazooie told him

What had started out as a peaceful dinner had been ruined by Kazooies big mouth. Though nobody faulted Banjo for it, they'd have loved to lock her up in his backpack. The rest of the dinner did however go rather smoothly. Frank, Jill, Leon and Chris told Zombie stories, while Crono and Frog talked about their journey through time. Little Mac talked of his boxing days. Link talked about Hyrule. The only one who really didn't talk was Wander. It was almost as if he wasn't even there. He didn't even finish up his food (what parts Kazooie didn't already eat anyway). But overall, the friendly atmosphere continued throughout the night, even after Dinner. Even if people in Nintendo House may have to battle each other some day, they wanted to remain friends. At least, as much as they could. Obviously there would be some difficulties. But in the end, friendship was the most important thing. That didn't mean they'd only associate with Nintendo House people, of course. They'd try to associate with people from all of the houses. Though Sony was a house that they were concerned about. Nobody from there seemed to be up to any good. Tom Nook? He may have been the bright spot in the Sony House. At least as far as those in Nintendo House saw him.

_Sony House_

Nobody in Sony House was happy to have to eat together. In fact, they were all rather upset at he fact. Getting to know each other? Friendship stuff? Not up their alley. Not up their alley at all. In fact, they made enemies much easier than they did friends. Some of the baddies in the Sony House would actually rather have dined with their enemies, than with their friends. On some occasions, Bowser did. Wario too in fact. But the others, they never thought about dining with their enemies, not unless they absolutely had to. Of courese few actually had any friends. Loyal subjects and minions maybe, but they weren't really friends. Most of them were just too scared to be disloyal.

"Gwah, Nook. You can't charge us everytime we want to come in here!" Bowser yelled as loudly as possible, breaking the silence in the room.

"Ho ho ho. But I can. If you want to come in, you must spend." Nook said cheerfully.

Bowser stomped. "Why I ought to..."

"It's against the rules to harm a contestant. Not that it matters in your case. You'll probably be out by the first round anyways. So By all means, kill the raccoon" Arthas said.

"Stupid raccoon! You can't-a take-a Wario's Coins!" Wario said.

"Ho ho ho. You're just jealous I thought of it first" Nook responded.

And he was right. Wario would've probably done the same thing if he had the chance. In fact he'd probably charge to let them leave too. But Nook couldn't do that. Not if he wanted to keep making money. He was first and foremost a business man.

"I had been wondering why the hell they put that stupid furry thing in here" Liquid Snake said. "Now I can see it's because he's a greedy little bastard."

"Ehehehe. That's RICH! You guys have to pay a stupid raccoon to get in here. Hoo-hoo-hah-hah-hah-heh-heh-heh" Kefka mocked everyone.

"You have to pay it too" Vergil told him.

"Ehehehe, I'll just fry him! FRY HIM LIKE A STEAK!" Kefka yelled, sticking his fork in his own steak repeatedly, as if it were a living being.

"As Arthas already explained, that's against the rules" Wesker said.

"Rules? Rules? Do I LOOK like a rule follower to you? Ehehehehehehe"

"Shut up Clown" Sephiroth said, breaking his silence. "Bickering over a petty amount of cash. How pathetic"

"So you don't mind paying then, Sephiroth?" Ganondorf asked.

Sephiroth smiled. "Who says I pay?"

The room looked confused. Nook was obviously a pushover when it came to real power, but if he was anything, it was persistent.

"I have my ways" Sephiroth said. "And if any of you were half as powerful as you claim to be... you would to"

"Hey Sephiroth" Liquid said. "Mind if I borrow that book on genetics when you're done with it?"

"Be my guest" Sephiroth said, flashing a wicked smile. "In fact you can have it now"

"For as many of you that have enemies in this place" Wesker started to say. "You're all awfully calm".

"Gwahaha. Mario? He's a punk. I could beat him with my eyes tied behind my back" Bowser bellowed.

"Wee-hee-hee. Then how come he's beaten you at least fifty times"

"Nobody asked you, numbnuts" Bowser said, pounding his fist on the table.

"The great and powerfull Thrall? Take down the greater and more powerful me? Unlike the lot of you, I don't lose to my enemies. What would I ever have to worry about? Falling on doomhammer by accident in the middle of the night?"

"I for one am glad Link is here" Ganondorf said, with a wicked smile on his face. "Zelda too of course"

There was obvious reason fro Ganondorf to be happy about his enemies being there. They had the other two parts of the tri-force. But only he, and apparently Sephiroth knew that much.

"I've beaten my brother before, I can do it again" Vergil said.

"I don't have to worry about Snake. In fact, he may come in useful." LIquid told the rest of them.

Sephiroth smiled. "I'm glad my puppet is here. Without him, I might get bored."

Few of them actually took their enemies seriously. Some of it was due to overconfidence. Some of it was because they underestimated their enemies. Whatever it was, they had plenty of reason to worry, but none of them were. Except Wesker, and Ridley. Of course Ridley couldn't say anything. Not now... The rest of the dinner was in silence, as it had begun. Once in a while, Bowser would stomp, or pound the table, but aside from that, the Sony House Common Room was quiet for the rest of the night.

_Square House_

Square House wasn't quite as friendly as Nintendo house, but was far more friendly than Sony House. In fact, there hadn't been much quiet during the entirety of dinner. Everyone was talking about something, except Donkey Kong and Kirby. All they did was eat. But that was probably for the best anyways. They weren't much for conversation.

"So how long have you and Tidus been together?" Aeris asked Yuna.

Yuna paused for a moment before answering. "I guess it's been... two years now"

"You know Vincent, if you really can turn into Chaos, you'd be a great Vassal for my Kingdom" Laharl said.

"I'm not interested, thanks"

"Suit yourself then mortal." Laharl said, giving up quite easily. Normally he'd obliterate anyone who said no to him. But that was against the rules, and Flonne taught him that he had to be patient sometimes.

"Cloud?" The Boss started. "I was wondering, can just about anyone use Materia?"

Cloud nodded. "I suppose so. But even with materia, there is varying levels of skill. If you're not good at using it, it'll backfire on you"

"So it's almost like a weapon in and of itself?"

Cloud again noddded. "You could say that. Though once you've mastered materia, you don't need it any longer. You can cast spells without it. Of course it's difficult to master"

"That makes sense." The Boss told him.

"There are seven types of matria" Cloud began. "Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple, White, and Black"

"What do they all do?" Thrall asked.

"You're not really interested in this, are ya Thrall?" Dante asked.

"Learning is one of the greatest assets sentience has. There's no reason for me to pass up this opportunity." Thrall told him.

"Red Materia," Cloud began. "Teaches us to summon monsters to our aid. Blue Materia supports other materia. For example, All-Materia when combined with Fire materia, allows us to target a large group of enemies with the fire spell. Element Materia on the other hand, can apply an element to our weapon or our armor"

Dante was the only one not listening to Cloud's explanation. Well, Dante, Kirby, and Donkey Kong. Kirby and DK were too busy eating their food to listen to anything anybody had to say.

"Green Materia teaches us to use magic spells. When we master a green materia, we're able to use that spell without aid from the materia itself. Yellow Materia teaches us to perform better in certain tasks. For example, the Throw Materia will teach us to better throw objects. Purple Materia teaches us to push ourselves further, past our limits. And White Materia is a special materia. It protects us all."

"And Black Materia?" The Boss asked.

Cloud paused for a moment. "Black Materia calls Meteor. Meteor itself, is powerful enough to destroy an entire world".

"Sounds dangerous. Is there a lot of it?" The Boss asked.

"No. There's only one Black Materia."

"If it ever fell into the wrong hands" Boss said, shocked that such a thing existed. Shagahod? Nuclear Weapons? Yeah they were powerful. But destroy a world? It wasn't very likely.

Cloud and Aeris both had a solemn look on their face. "No need to worry though. It's not going to be used ever again"

Again? It had happened before? That didn't put anybodys mind at ease. Not even sixteen of the most powerful beings in the multiverse.

"Ahh, who cares?" Laharl screamed. "I could probably demolish a million planets without blinking an eye"

"I think he belongs in Sony House" Simon whispered to Dante, who nodded in agreement.

"Did you say something Mortal?" Laharl asked.

Simon shook his head. "Nothing at all."

"A million planets eh?" Dante asked. "I've probably slayed a million demons just like yourself"

"Who asked you?"

"Demons, all this supernatural stuff is good and all. But in the practical world, you have to have skill" The Boss boasted. "You all rely on your powers, I rely on myself"

"We save our world from destruction" Cloud said. "When have you done such a thing"

"Never had the chance" The Boss answered.

Auron laughed. He hadn't said anything all dinner. He was eerily quiet.

"What are you laughing at old man?" Dante asked. "Just what have you done?"

"Me?" Auron replied. "Nothing. It's them that have done something" he motioned to Yuna and Tidus.

"And just what the hell did they fight that was so powerful?" Laharl asked.

Auron had a stern look on his face. "True power can't be measured by who you've defeated. But by what you're willing to do. They were willing to die for their world. Can you say the same?"

Only The Boss spoke up. "I'd gladly die for my country"

Auron turned towards her. "You say that so easily"

"I'm a soldier"

"Or maybe a fool. Or maybe you just don't have anybody to live for"

"Who the hell are you to say if I have someone to live for or not?"

"Maybe you would gladly accept death. Maybe you'd do it so easily, because you've already lost everything worth living for. When you have something... someone to live for, you don't so easily say you'll die for your country or for your world. Your eyes suggest you've lost everything important to you. If I was mistaken, I'm sorry"

The Boss silently sipped her beer.

"Sir Auron doesn't mean anything by that' Yuna said.

"Forget about it kid" she told her, before heading off to bed.

The rest of the dinner for Square house went on like a bragging match typically would. Everyone boasted about something they had done in their world, and someone else would try to top it. But there wasn't really any malice in their words. They were all just trying to have fun. For the most part, they were getting along pretty well.

_Konami House_

Konami House got along about as well as Square House did. Of course it didn't help that Revolver Ocelot and Solid Snake were both in the same house. But they were attempting to be civil towards each other. Attempting. That wasn't going too well. Snake wasn't exactly sure which era Ocelot was from. Liquid, he was sure on. Big Boss was also there, but it was Big Boss before he did what he did.

"So, why do you and Solid Snake look so much alike Big Boss?" Ada Wong asked.

"No clue" Big Boss said.

"Big Boss is his father" Mewtwo spoke.

Damnit. Snake thought. The bipedal cat was going to create a time paradox without even realizing it.

"I thought you could read minds Mewtwo" Lara said.

Snake had a silent sigh of relief. Everyone was dismissing Mewtwos claims.

"I say we have a DNA test" Edgeworth joked.

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix shouted. "For all we know, they're the same person from two different eras"

"Sometimes you make no sense Wright."

"So Lara. I think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday" Zelos started.

"Don't talk to me." Lara said.

"Well then Ada, my hunny, it'll just be you and me"

"I've already got my eye on someone else." Ada said.

Zelos sighed. "How about you Zelda my sweet?"

"I'll pass"

"Any girl would that got into Konami House" Lara said.

That stung Zelos more than Sheena ever had in his entire life. He wasn't used to rejection.

"My, my. Aren't we having fun?" Jade said.

"No, Jade. We're not" Zelos replied.

"You know, for a house full of intelligence, we've got a lot of people who can't speak" Raiden mentioned.

"Sometimes, nothing is the smartest thing you can say" Snake reminded him.

"Guns speak better than any words do" Ocelot said.

"Guns can't talk." Zelos said.

Everybody cringed at that comment. It was almost Lloyd worthy. Of course Zelos was just trying to keep up his appearance It was all part of his charm.

"You know, instead of a baseball tournament, we should have a Chess tournament" Phoenix said.

"Wright, sometimes you have a good idea, that goes really bad. This is one of those times" Edgeworth said. "Have you forgotten we have robots here? Not to mention Mewtwo"

Phoenix scratched his head a moment. "Well, let's just not let them in. Humans only"

"As a defense attorney, you should know that's discrimination"

"Are you from the same planet as I am Edgey? I mean, how many talking animals and robots do we have around?"

"Not very many. Perhaps why you discriminate against them. Besides Deep Blue was allowed to play Chess."

"Alright, just forget about the idea.." Phoenix said, defeated.

"We may need a way to pass the time. If you want to play chess, feel free to play against me, Phoenix" Alucard said.

"Thanks Alucard" Phoenix said.

"Well I'm going to get a good night's sleep Wright." Edgeworth said.

"I think I will too. I'm going to start t-" Phoenix started.

Edgeworth shook his head slightly, hoping nobody would notice. He also avoided thinking it, so Mewtwo couldn't read him.

"I'm going to start thinking about how to pass my time." Phoenix said.

With that, the two lawyers headed off to bed.

"Raiden, I think we should get some sleep as well"

"Sounds good to me Snake" Raiden replied.

"Sleep sounds nice" Big Boss told them.

The three also headed off to their beds, leaving only eleven people from Konami House eating.

Mewtwo spoke. "Humans are weak, needing sleep"

"Rest is important for all creatures" Alucard said.

"Do you sleep, vampire?" Mewtwo asked.

"During the day, I do. But you already know that I'm sure"

After finishing their dinner, Rayman, Prince of All Cosmos, and Geno went to go play in the corner together. Or at least it looked like they were playing. In truth they were talking with each other about the tournament, and all the contestants. They were talking about their worlds, in a language none of the others could understand.

"They look peaceful" Zelda said. "It must be nice"

"I have to wonder how they got in here" Zelos said.

"The same could be said of you" Lara told him.

"Bicker, bicker, bicker" Ocelot said. "You're all just boring. I think I'll join the weaklings, and get some sleep. I'm an old man you know"

Ocelot headed off for bed, though he didn't get into it. But nobody knew about it. Not even Mewtwo.

"I don't like him" Mewtwo said.

"Why not?" Zelos asked. "Seems pretty nice, for a sadistic old bastard who likes to kill people"

"I can't read his mind." Mewtwo explained.

It was a strange concept for the pokemon. Just about everybody else in the tournaments mind he could read. But not Ocelot's. He couldn't even get part of a reading on him. He could learn the deepest desires of Sephiroth, the closest guarded secret of Samus Aran, and the most hidden part of Master Chiefs past. But he couldn't even begin with Ocelot.

"Forget it." Mewtwo said. "I'm going to go and charge my power. Maybe then I can get a read on him".

"I'll be leaving as well. I have too much to do tonight" Alucard said, before leaving as well.

All that remained at the table was Zelda, Ada, Lara, Jade, and Zelos. If only Jade would leave... Zelos was thinking to himself. Three beautiful women, all alone. Even if they were all a little cold. They'd have to warm up to him eventually. They all did.

But even they weren't going to stay long. The entire Konami house was leaving for rest earlier than any of the other houses. Perhaps it was to rest their large brains. Or maybe it was because they planned on getting up early to do something.

"Looks like it's just me, and three lovely ladies" Zelos said.

Jade said nothing.

"Hey, take a hint Jade!" Zelos said.

"Oh, I'm afraid I don't take hints" Jade said. "They're far too complicated for my poor, aged brain"

Zelos facepalmed himself.

"I think I'm going to bed anyway" Zelda announced.

"Shall I join you, my lovely hunny?" Zelos asked.

"No!" Zelda shrieked. "Don't even think of it."

"I was just going to keep you company..." he said.

"I'm going to bed too" Lara said. "And don't even try to get near me Zelos. I sleep with a gun under my pillow"

"That must be uncomfortable" Zelos said. "It'd be much nicer if you slept next to me, so I could massage your shoulders"

Lara ignored his comment.

"I guess I should go as well. I wouldn't want to be stuck here with Zelos". Ada mentioned.

"You're leaving me here with him?" Jade asked. "How cruel"

"Sorry Jade" Ada said. "And don't even think of making a snide remark Zelos. I won't hesitate to test out a few viruses on you"

"Sheesh!" Zelos said. "Women! Sometimes I just don't get them"

Zelda, Ada, and Lara quickly went to bed, leaving only Zelos and Jade there.

"Be Careful" Jade said.

"What?!" Zelos asked, confused.

"The others may not have caught on to your act, but I have. I won't ask why. But I do suggest you be more careful"

"How did you.."

Jade smiled. "Oh. I just know. Now I think it's best I get to bed. I'm rather old and fragile. Wouldn't want to break my bones before I get to fight now would I"?

With that Jade went to bed, and Zelos soon followed. Nobody at Konami House was at dinner any longer. They had all went to bed, or went somewhere else. It looked like something that would be a regular occurrence with them. Then again, maybe once they were allowed to further explore the premises, some of them wouldn't go to sleep as early.

_Capcom House_

Capcom House wasn't too different from Konami House. Everyone there was relatively intelligent. They also got along for the most part. A lot of them were Robots of course. HK-47 was glad there was an lack of meatbags in Capcom House. Though some of the meatbags could almost pass for Robots. Like Master Chief and Samus.

Samus Aran sighed. "Alright, tell us what your attacker looked like"

Samus gave in to Rikkus whining that she was attacked. Well, tickled. It shouldn't have been such a big deal. She had made a mountain out of a mole hill.

"He wore green!" Rikku said. "And had a funny moustach! And I heard him call himself... Mr. L!"

The crowd gasped for dramatic effect.

"Mr. L huh?" Samus said. "Wears green? Has a moustach? I think it's obvious who your attacker was Rikku"

"It is?" Rikku asked.

Master Chief nodded. "L-Block!"

"Who else would call themselves Mr. L?" Samus asked.

"She's right" Gordon said. "L block, Mister L? It's too much of a coincidence if you ask me."

"Well then I'm going to confront him, it's not nice of him to tickle me!"

"You do that Rikku" Samus said, tired of the conversation.

"Commentary. Stupid Meatbag drama, wouldn't you agree KOS-MOS?" HK-47 said.

"There is a 97.654 chance that you have offended at least four point three people in this room" KOS-MOS explained.

"Commentary. I love when you do numbers!"

"Mega Man, don't you think KOS-MOS looks a lot more human than we do?" Zero asked.

Mega Man nodded. "And we're pretty humanlike ourselves"

"I suppose that'd make me the opposite of KOS-MOS then" Samus stated.

"As well me" Master Chief added.

"I guess so." Zero said.

"I wish I was in Square House with yunnie.." Rikku whined.

"You don't like it here, Rikku?" Samus asked, trying to be nice.

"It's not that" Rikku replied. "I just don't know anybody here, and don't feel like I fit in"

"Well you do know some things about machinery, right? Otherwise you'd never have goten into Capcom House" Gordon said, trying to comfort her.

"Yeah, I mean Machina were forbidden in our world, but I'm really good at taking machines apart. Especially Robots!" Rikku said without thinking. "Not that I'd do that here, Mega Man, Zero, HK-47. You too KOS-MOS."

"You did not need to modify your statement" KOS-MOS responded. "It was obvious that you did not intend to mean that you would take us apart"

"I wish I could've brought my arwing here" Fox said. "It's kind of boring without it"

"I wish I could've brought the blue falcon. Then we could've had a race Fox!" Captain Falcon responded.

It seemed as if all the people in Capcom were sort of missing something. Something back home, that they didn't have here.

"HK-47, can I ask you something?" Mega Man asked.

"Answer. Of course. You're not a meatbag scum afterall."

"You're a robot obviously. But doesn't it go against the law of robotics to harm humans?"

"Commentary. I'd rather be scrap metal than not be able to commit wanton acts of violence on pathetic meatbags"

"In our world," Zero started. "Robots aren't allowed to harm humans. It's not a law we mind following. For the most part"

"There are bad humans" Mega Man said. "Like Dr. Wily"

"Bad Robots too. Though most of them are a result of human interference" Zero went on.

"Well yeah" Rikku said. "Everything can be bad or good! It just depends, you know?"

Rikku had a good point there. Nothing was inherently good or bad. Those with the capability to choose, decided for themselves what to be.

"We have an evil scientist on our world too. His name's Dr. Robotnik" Tails explained to everyone else. "He turns animals into robots, and makes them do his evil work"

"A lot of your worlds seem to have a lot of black and white" Marcus said. "No such thing where I"m from"

"There can be black and white to things. It depends on the person, or thing" Ratchet said.

"Like Sin..." Rikku said. "Sin did nothing but take lives. But I guess it did do some things that were good... like Dream Zanarkand."

"Good and Evil aren't absolutes. At least I don't believe they are. Everyone and everything has a reason for what they do" Marcus concluded.

But before anyone could respond to Marcus, Bomberman sat a Bomb on the table.

"What'd you do that for?" Rikku asked.

"I'll defuse it" Samus said.

"There is a 97.62890424422 chance that the bomb cannot be defused" KOS-MOS said. "And it will blow up in approximately 7.411 seconds"

Everyone looked at each other, and backed off from the table. Not quite seven and a half seconds later, the bomb exploded, and dinner was destroyed. Bomberman had a smile on his face.

"Oh well, I wasn't hungry anyways" Master Chief said.

Capcom dinner had ended in disaster. Why did Bomberman place the bomb on the table? Nobody knew, and nobody was going to ask him. But he did it. They couldn't have stopped him. They were just happy that nobody got hurt.

_Sega House_

Sega House probaly got along the best of any of the houses. They were all, for the most part, very nice to each other. Most of them became friends very quickly, and were loyal to their friends that they made. All of them were pretty happy to be there. Most of them had friends that were already there. Knuckles had Sonic and Tails, who were in other houses. Yoshi and Peach had each other, and Toad, as well as Mario and Luigi. Jak and Daxter had each other. Zidane and Vivi had each other. Sora had Roxas and Riku. Balthier had... well he had Vaan. Not much of a friend, but still. Vyse, Serge, Viewtiful Joe, Isaac, and Amaterasu were the only ones there without friends. Though they had all made friends quickly still.

"You know Jak, this palce is pretty nice!" Daxter said. "Nice Ladies!" he looked towards Peach. "No worries of dying horrible painful deaths! And best of all, FREE FOOD!"

"He's awfully energetic" Balthier said. "Does it ever shut up?"

"Did you just call me it? IT?! WHY YOU I"LL HAVE YOU KNOW!" Daxter yelled.

"I don't suggest attacking the main character" Balthier said. "It's not very good for your health"

"Main character? This gun-toting idiot thinks HE is the main character? Tell him who the main character is Jak, go on tell him!"

"There is no main character" Jak said quite plainly.

"That's right! I'm the... wait, what? I'm not sure I heard you correctly Jak. There is NO main character?"

"The furry thing is right for a change" Balthier said. "And I'm your man"

"Nobody asked you, Captain Kook!" Daxter said.

"If anything, I"m the main character" Zidane replied to everything. "After all, I get to marry a princess!"

"Big deal." Balthier said. "Princesses are overrated. No offense, milady"

Peach giggled. "Main character? That'd be Mario!"

"Yeah!" Toad and Yoshi both said, responding positiviely.

"Nah, I'm the main character" Vyse said, laughing. "I've explored an entire world!"

"I-I'm not the main character" Vivi said timidly.

"Of course not!" Zidane said. "You're his loyal sidekick!"

"When did Vivi become my sidekick?" Balthier asked.

"I think he meant me" Dax said. "And I've already got one, right Jak?"

Jak looked at Daxter angrily.

"Err eh... I mean partner. Right. Partner. Not sidekick. Not at all."

"I wouldn't want to be the main character" Serge said.

"Me neither" Isaac followed.

"Same here." Sora said. "I'd rather share the credit with someone else."

"And that's why you'll al never be main characters!" Balthier explained.

"I'm a super-hero baby! Henshin a go-go! I'm the main character!"

"In that getup? Really" Balthier said. "I don't think so Joe"

"Who cares who the main character is?" Knuckles said. "I sure don't. Though I know Sonic thinks differently. Maybe he'd fit in better with this house"

"I'm not sure how much loyalty all of you are showing" Ryu said. "If you were really loyal, you'd share the credit, with those who've helped you. If anyone is the main character, it's vivi"

"M--me?" Vivi asked.

"You are humble" Ryu said. "That is a quality we should all learn"

"I suppose I could be a bit more humble. But I'm just so darn great" Balthier said.

Amaterasu howled, as she ate off her plate.

"I think she's saying she's the main character." Peach said.

"She's a dog!" Balthier said. "Nothing more than a pet!"

Amaterasu glared at Balthier.

"Sorry Amaterasu. I didn't mean to imply.."

Amaterasu went back to eating.

"What do you think of Banjo?" Jak asked Daxter.

"I like Kazooie better" Daxter said. "She's my kind of gal!"

"Who?" Jak asked.

"...you didn't just say that. Are you going to ignore the bird in the backpack?"

"Oh yeah, Kazooie. But she's just Banjo's pet"

"Pet? What does that make me then?!"

"You're my best friend Dax, you know that!"

"Speaking of other contestants" Peach interrupted. "What do you think of Zelda Toad?"

"She's great, Princess!"

"Tee-hee. You think so too huh?" Peach responded.

The rest of the evening went on pretty much like that for the people in Sega House. Bickering over who was the main character, discussion of their other friends, and whatever they could find to do. It was a fairly lively dinner. More so than most of the other houses in fact. Nobody in Sega House went to bed early. In fact into the late hours, they were still all awake, and at the dinner table talking.

_Namco_

At Namco House, most of the people were keeping to themselves. They were similar to Sega House, in that most of them thought highly of themselves. Of course this wasn't true for all of them. But still. Luigi was very nervous being there. He felt like he really didn't belong there at all. Scorpion and Sub Zero were fighting, as usual.

"I hope we get to fight each other in this tournament' Scorpion said.

"If not in the first round, then the second" Sub Zero said.

"If you can make it that far!" Scorpion told him.

"Or you for that matter" Sub-Zero said.

"Not like it matters with the Duke here!" Duke said. "i'm Duke Nukem, and I'm going to kick this tournaments ass and win that L-Block! Hoo-yeah!"

"You're pathetic" Magus said. "Nothing but a weakling"

"What'd you say purple face?" Duke asked.

"Hmph."

"Hey Luigi" Riku said. "You can always hang with us you know"

"Yeah, it's obvious you kind of don't fit here" Roxas said. "But neither do we really"

"Thh-th-thank you" Luigi stuttered.

"Hmph. Most of you don't belong here. None of you are half as cool as I am" Vercetti said.

"...whatever" Squall said.

"Ohh, brooding badass. That's original!" Vercetti laughed

"Yeah, none of you are as half as cool as the DUKE baby!"

"Like anybody cares" Shadow said. "You're all just measuring coolness based on your own opinion"

"That's true" Axel threw in.

"Pfft. The Duke decides how cool everyone is. And you're not very cool according to The Duke baby."

Kratos Aurion facepalmed himself. "Stuck in here with a bunch of imbecilles"

"Hmph. You're one to talk. Look at your son!" Tommy responded.

"Don't talk about Lloyd like that" Kratos said, drawing his sword.

"ooh, I'm reaaaaaal scared" Vercetti laughed.

"I'd kill you right now, if it weren't against the rules. You'd better hope you don't get matched up against me" Kratos Aurion told him.

"This place is boring until the tournament starts" the god of war said.

Prince of Persia nodded in agreement. It was pretty boring without a fight for most of the people there.

"If there weren't so many rules, I"d already be the champion" 47 said.

"You think you could kill all of us that easily?" Vercetti asked.

"I'm good at what I do" 47 told him.

"So am I! And I've dealt with hitmen before"

"You've never dealt with me before"

"And you've never dealt with most of us" Squall added in.

"I'm a hitman, what are you? A high school student?"

"I'm a mercenary" Squall said.

"Hey Leon" Riku said. "err Squall. Do you think we could train with you sometime?"

"I guess"

"Why do you brats want to train with him for?" Vercetti asked.

"Cause he knows what he's doing" Riku said. "I bet he's the toughest guy in this room"

"You're not including me, I take it?" Kratos of Greece asked.

"Hmph. Let your actions show what you can do" Magus said. "The weak claim their strength. The strong show it"

"i know I'm not too strong" Riku said. "But I"m going to get stronger!"

"Me too!" Roxas said.

"That's very admirable. Someone who knows they have weaknesses are a step closer to becoming strong" Kratos Aurion said.

"Pfft, those without weakness are already strong' Vercetti said.

"Really?" Kratos Aurion asked him. "Then how did you get here?'

"I came willingly" Vercetti lied.

"That's not what I heard" Kratos told him.

"Same here" 47 said.

"The Duke heard that you got your ass dragged in here by Georg Prime!"

"Rumors and lies" Vercetti told them.

"LIke we believe you" Aurion told him.

"Tch. See if I care"

Tommy Vercetti, though he was lying, didn't like that nobody believed him.

"You have no honor Tommy Vercetti" Metaknight said.

"Who asked you, pink ball of..."

Metaknight gleamed at Tommy. "You do not want to pick a fight with me either"

Nobody in Namco house was someone to mess around with. That much was obvious. The rest of the dinner didn't go a whole lot differently. Few people got along in the house, though not quite to the extent of Sony House. Some had considered the place a Sony Lite of sorts. Of course that wasn't completely true. Some of them had good qualities about them. None of them were entirely evil. That's why they weren't in Sony.

_Microsoft House_

Microsoft House was a mess to say the least. Everything was knocked over on the floor. The dinner table was almost broken in half. Everything was horrible.

"Why am I in this house?" Vaan asked himself.

"Bidoof!"

"Pika pi?"

"Kip! Kip!"

None of the pokemon actually understood him. Or at least he didn't think they did. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

"This place is cool, if you lose in round 1, you're a fool!" PaRappa rhymed.

"I think we'd get along great" Agent J told PaRappa

"Right you are my friend, we'd do well together till the end!"

"Marvelous" Guybrush said. "By which I mean terrible. Awful. Not a single woman in sight. I think I'm the sanest person here"

"Hey I'm here!" Matt the mii said.

Spyro spewed fire once more, and L-Block shook, making other tetriminoes appear, and then disappear.

"We could play cards again" Nathan suggested.

"Zolom ate them" Vaan said.

"Oh. Right" Nathan replied.

"All your cards are belong to us!" CATS said.

"Right. The giant snake ate them. Nobody will ever believe this when I get home" Guybrush noted to himself.

"Wakka Wakka Wakka" Pacman said.

"I'm going to be a fairy!" Tingle said. "Want to be a fairy with me Vaan?"

"No thanks Tingle" Vaan said.

"Bidoof!"

"Kip! Kip!"

"Pika pi! CHUUUU!"

"I guess they know their names at least." Guybrush said. "They've only said them about a dozen times in the past ten minutes"

"Does anyone here want a map of the castle?" Tingle asked.

"Ohh, something useful!" Vaan said. "how much?"

"600 Rupees!"

"Forget it" Vaan said. "Your prices are ridiculous."

"Don't be that way Vaan! I thought we were friends!"

"Think again" Vaan said.

"Bi! Doof!"

"That gets kind of catchy after a while" Guybrush said. "yes. Bi. Doof. Actually it's not very catchy at all now that I mention it."

Crash spun around, knocking the furniture over again, as Agent J and PaRappa danced away.

"All your pokemon are belong to us!"

"Chuuu!"

"Hey, pikachu! I've got something here for you!" PaRappa said.

"Pi pika chu!"

PaRappa then fed the electric rat an apple.

"One day I'm going to be an air pirate" Vaan said. "And I"ll look back on this as an adventure"

"I'm a pirate!" Guybrush said with the most certainty as he ever had. "And I'd say this isn't much of an adventure. oh no. I've been on adventures before. They're nothing like this."

"Kip! Kip!"

Microsoft house was... well it was Microsoft house like always. Everything was crazy. The rest of the dinner wasn't any better. What wasn't destroyed, eaten, or broken, was lucky to have survived. And that included the contestants. Of course none of them were harmed. Physically at least. Emotionally, they none fared too well.

The First Dinner had gone differently for all of the houses. But when all was said and done, they had all gotten to know each other a little better. They'd need to, because the tournament wasn't far off. They wouldn't have as much time to socialize then. They'd have to focus on the tournament. But it was a nice calm before the storm. A nice break before the big day.

By Cloud and Squall


	58. Jurassic Start

**Jurassic Start**

**Prematch**  
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. It was the sound of writing, and it could be heard everywhere. Nobody was quite sure who - or what - was making the sound. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. The writing continued, as Tidus looked down at the scroll he had been given when he first entered the dorm. Names were magically appearing on the scroll, naming the contenders for the first match. The first name that the magic had etched into the scroll wasn't one that Tidus recognized from the start. Knuckles. The second name to appear on the scroll however, was one that Tidus recognized instantly- Rikku. He double-checked it, remembering that there was a Riku in the tournament as well. Nope, definitely two K's. The scratching continued. The third name on the list was Vaan. This was then followed by Yoshi. The scratching sound then stopped. The first match was etched in the bracket. "I better go tell Rikku!" Tidus said to himself, running off to say something.

Tidus ran all the way from the castle, to Lucretia's Bend where Rikku and Yuna were talking. He hadn't been invited to their girls day out, which he was slightly jealous about. But it gave him time to learn a sport that Mario had been trying to teach him to play- Football, or as some people called it Soccer. It was a confusing issue to be sure.

"Hey Rikku, you're in the first match" Tidus said.

"Oh no! Yunnie... I don't want to be in the first match"

"You'll do great" Yuna tried to assure her.

"I don't know..." Rikku sounded unsure.

"Just do your best!" Tidus said. "We'll be cheering you on!"

"Maybe you should learn more about your opponents before your match" Auron said from nowhere.

"When did you get here Sir Auron?" Yuna asked.

"I came to tell Rikku that she was in the first match. But I see Tidus beat me to it."

"Let's see..." Rikku said to herself. "First is Knuckles, he's the Red Echnida right?"

Yuna nodded.

"And then there's Vaan, he's the air pirate in Microsoft House."

Yuna nodded again.

"And last theres Yoshi! He's the green dinosaur right?"

Yuna nodded for a third time.

"Yay! I know who they all are! It'll be no problem!"

Auron thought that Rikku was being a little carefree about her match up. The other contenders weren't like the fiends they had fought on their world. It wouldn't be as simple as fighting the bad guys. In fact, if anything the three Rikku was pitted against would be considered other good guys. But Auron remained quiet. Perhaps by letting her be carefree, should would perform better. But still... he couldn't help but think that she could use some sagely advice right now.

Back at the castle, Knuckles was pacing back and forth. He was going to be in the first match, and he had no idea when that would be. Waiting wasn't one of his strong points. Being in the first match had it's disadvantages. For example, he had no idea what any of the other contestants were capable of. Furthermore, he wasn't sure how he'd know when the fight would begin. It wasn't as if the scroll had said anything. But he had hoped that it'd be soon.

Knuckles clutched the chaos emerald in his hand. To use it? Not in the first round. That'd be a waste. If he couldn't get through the first round without it, he'd have more trouble in later rounds without it. No, it was best to save it for when he really needed it. He hid the emerald from sight, and went back to pacing. Nobody would be able to find it here. Except maybe that damn bat... but she wasn't here. So he didn't have to worry about her. He saw a blue blur approaching him followed a little ways by a yellow blur. He knew what that meant- Sonic and Tails.

"Hey, what's up Knux?" Sonic asked.

"Waiting for my first match."

"Do you know when it's going to be?" Tails asked.

"No idea." Knuckles said.

"Well that's no fun, they shoulda told you." Sonic replied.

Knuckles nodded. "Waiting is the worst part of this."

"I have an idea then!" Sonic said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, what's that?" Knuckles asked.

But rather than answering, Sonic showed him- or rather he knocked Knuckles out.

"Sonic!" Tails cried out.

"Don't worry little buddy, he'll just be out long enough to not have to wait for his match. He'll probably thank me when he wakes up."

Sonic and Tails left the Echidna alone. Hours passed before Knuckles finally regained consciousness. The first thing that came to his mind was "Did I miss my match" but immediately after that was "I'm going to kill that damn hedgehog" and "What the hell is this blue orb lying on the ground?". It was the third thought that intrigued him the most. The blue orb certainly wasn't there when he was knocked out. At least he didn't think it was. He slowly picked it up.

"Knuckles The Echidna," the orb stated in a strange voice. It didn't sound robotic at all. Was it magic? "please report to the arena immediately"

Knuckles gave a sigh of relief. He hadn't missed his match. But he'd still kill Sonic if he got the chance. A red streak dashed off towards the arena. The fight was about to begin.

**The Match**

Grune was apparently the announcer for the first match, though those duties could belong to any of the castle staff. She had almost all of the mens attention, though less because of her importance. Each of the competitors were standing on one side of the stadium. Yoshi was to the south, Vaan to the East, Rikku to the west, and Knuckles to the North. Each of them were patiently waiting for Grune to announce the match to start. Each of them were in their battle stances. Each of them had formulated strategies in their heads. The crowd above was separated into boxes, one for each House.

"Knuckles versus Rikku versus Vaan versus Yoshi. Oh my that sounds like fun! Let's have a picnic when this is all done! You can start now!" Grune announced, and the match began.

Yoshi charged towards Vaan with tremendous speed, stopping only to throw an egg at his first victim. The egg hit Vaan with a tremendous amount of force, knocking him back slightly. Vaan stepped back into position, but before he could lunge towards the dinosaur with his weapons, Yoshi had jumped into the air, and was lamming down on top of him. Vaan was knocked over, and Yoshi was standing before him. Yoshi stuck out his tongue, and swallowed Vaan turning him into an egg. Yoshi butt stomped the egg, and by the time Vaan was out of it, Yoshi had rolled into an egg himself, and threw himself at tremendous speeds at the young man.

Knuckles and Rikku on the other hand started fighting each other, rather than going for Yoshi or Vaan. Knuckles ran towards Rikku, who tossed a grenade at the Echidna. After it exploded, smoke surrounded Knuckles. He could barely see a couple of inches ahead of him. His speed would be no use here. He could really have used that chaos emerald about right now... Out of nowhere Rikku ran by, slashing Knuckles with her claws before running back into the smoke. Knuckles tried in vain to find Rikku through the smoke. But he was unable to find her before she cast her first spell. "Firaga!" She muttered, and fire burned the Echidnas body. Things weren't going his way.

Yoshi continued pounding on Vaan, tossing him into the far wall below Segas box. Balthier face palmed himself, not believing how badly the boy was losing. But Vaan wasn't quite through just yet- he figured a way to deal with the dinosaur. He timed his leap just right, to land on Yoshi's back. It wasn't easy steering the dinosaur to where he wanted him to go, but he managed to drive him to the far wall, jumping just in time and making Yoshi hit his head. Vaan struck at Yoshi, but Yoshi ate his weapon.

"Hey you can't do that!" Vaan said. "Give me back my weapon!"

Yoshi shook his head, and then head butted the young man. Vaan swung at Yoshi with his fist, who just stepped back, and prepared some eggs. Yoshi tossed six eggs at Vaan, and each one hit harder than the last. Vaan was lying on the ground. No weapon. No hope. Maybe it was for the best if he just lost now.

"Oh my, that looks like fun! I think Vaan is out! It's okay Vaan you'll do better next time!" Grune said, declaring the Vaan was officially out of the match.

Vaan's body was teleported to the infirmary, and only three remained.

The smoke was finally clearing up, and Knuckles was able to see clearly now. He dashed towards Rikku, punching at her furiously. With each blow, Rikku was knocked back another foot. Knuckles then grabbed Rikku and swung her around and around. He let go of her, sending her flying across the stadium. Yoshi ran at Knuckles, and head butted him, knocking him over. Yoshi leaped into the air, and pounded onto Knuckles.

"Hey you can't do that, he's mine!" Rikku cried out, slashing at Yoshi with her Claws.

This gave Knuckles time to get up. Yoshi stuck his tongue out, and swallowed Knuckles before he was able to do anything. Yoshi jumped into the air, and butt stomped Rikku.

"Hey meanie, that hurt!"

Rikku leaped over Yoshi, and tossed a smoke grenade. But Yoshi simply swallowed it.

"That trick isn't going to work again." Knuckles told her, after breaking out of his egg.

He dashed towards Rikku, punching and kicking her, as he was doing so Yoshi jumped again, and butt stomped Knuckles. He then swallowed Rikku, and turned her into an egg.

"Help lemme' out!"

Before Yoshi could jump on top of the egg, Knuckles ran towards it, grabbed it, and chucked it into the air. Yoshi swallowed Knuckles once more, and threw his egg at the egg Rikku was in. The two collided in mid-air, and Yoshi jumped into the air. The other two opponents fell out of their eggs onto the ground. Yoshi butt stomped Rikku, and then Knuckles. The two attempted to get up, but Yoshi rolled into an egg, and dashed right through both of them.

"I...can't...feel...my...legs" Rikku said. She was having a very hard time of it. She hated doing what she did next.. but she had no choice. "I... give up!"

"Rikku is out! oh my Rikku, did you have any fun?" Grune announced, and asked.

Rikku was then teleported out to the infirmary just as Vaan had been.

Yoshi and Knuckles were all that were left. Yoshi butt stomped Knuckles again, before turning around and swallowing him. It was repetitive, but effective. Once Knuckles was in the egg again, Yoshi tossed it high into the air. Knuckles however managed to break out of the egg, and land on his feet. Before he was able to make a move on Yoshi, an announcement was made.

"Oh my, the match is over! Yoshi is declared the winner, how fun! And Knuckles gets second! Both will be moving on!"

Knuckles was a bit disappointed. But he'd take second. Especially since he still had that Chaos emerald somewhere. Yoshi meanwhile was dancing around, very happy that he had won. A lot of people gained respect for the dinosaur that day.

**Aftermath**

Vaan was already sitting up in his bed when Balthier walked in.

"You did an admirable job kid." Balthier said.

"You don't have to say that." Vaan told him.

"C'mon now. You didn't expect to win did you? Especially with me here."

"I guess not..." Vaan said. "Still.. would've been nice not to get last."

Balthier laughed. "Truth be told you did awful. But you're just a kid."

Rikku on the other hand was struggling to get up. Her legs were very sore. Auron, Tidus, and Yuna were at her bedside.

"You know why you lost, don't you?" Auron asked.

Rikku nodded.

"You don't have to be so mean you know." Tidus said.

"I'm just telling the truth."

"She did a good job I thought." Yuna said.

"Aye, she lasted longer than him." Jessica Albert said. She was the nurse that was tending to Rikku. "You might not want to get up just yet. You are lucky you didn't break your legs."

Elsewhere in the castle Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Peach were celebrating Yoshi's victory. For winning in the first round, he received a cash reward of fifty zen. It was quite a bit of money.

"You did it!" Peach said. "Good job!"

"You're the best!" Luigi said.

Mario nodded. Yoshi had performed very well. A lot of people who had doubted him based on his cute appearance weren't doubting him anymore.

"I can't believe the dinosaur beat that hot chick!" Duke said. "But the Duke will cheer her up! oh yeah!"

Back where Knuckles had hid the chaos emerald, he was pacing once again.

"I lost... No, I get to move on. So I haven't lost." he said to himself.

He picked the emerald up again. This.. this could get him to round 3. He hated the idea of using it before the finals. But with any luck he'd be facing Sonic, Tails, and Shadow in the finals. He was confident he could beat them. He had other business to attend to, namely kicking Sonic for knocking him out earlier. As he placed the emerald back into the ground, he couldn't help but feel someone was watching him. But he gave no more thought to it. "Now to teach Sonic a lesson" he said.


	59. There's a Blizard coming through

**There's a Blizzard Coming Through**

The Capcom common room, like most other common rooms, was almost completely empty late at night. Actually, at this point you could hardly call it night; it was closer to the morning. The sun had not yet risen, but the horizon had become lighter, signaling that it would be arriving soon. In this dawn glow, only one being was still left in the common room: the robot KOS-MOS.

She had stayed up the entire night, sitting in a chair and looking at a piece of paper. There was a bracket on it, but only two spots had been filled in. The very first match had all four participants written in, and the two winners were also present. Several minutes ago, the second match had appeared: Arthas Menethil vs Diablo vs KOS-MOS vs Mega Man. As soon as she saw this, KOS-MOS had begun running scans. Running all three names through acquired data, the castle's data, and approximate power levels from quick scans, she was attempting to reach a conclusion as to what her next move and overall battle plan should be. After several minutes, she stood.

"Threat analysis complete."

With that, the robot KOS-MOS left the common room, searching for her target.

--

What few competitors stayed up late enough or got up early enough to be wandering the castle at this hour knew the feeling of his presence by now. It preceded him like some sort of early warning sign, radiating power and evil. It did not take long for people to leave once they felt it. And Diablo liked that just fine; it was why he allowed his presence to be so obvious.

His heavy footsteps sounded around him as he continued his walk. He had seen that the day's match had shown up, and that he would be participating in it. He did not care much; the two robots, Mega Man and KOS-MOS, he knew very little of, and Arthas was one of the pathetic members of his house. Diablo had little regard for the other members of Sony House.

Pathetic, weak-minded fools, he thought. Caught up in their own arrogance and assurance of their power, they will almost certainly fall. They fall into the same trappings as those that they mock; they delude themselves, tell themselves that they cannot be defeated. This shall be their downfall. None of them can truly hope to win. I know the secret that they so desperately hide from; I alone am aware of the flaw in all of us.

I am not invincible.

I possess powers which some of the mortals here could not even dream of. And yet there are also very powerful mortals, and a select few whose might matches my own. Outside of my realm and my world, my magic is distorted in unnatural ways; it is obvious that I will fall. But this tournament is not why I am here...

Diablo turned a corner in the hall and was met with a surprise. A blue-haired woman in a strange outfit was standing there, looking as if she had been waiting for something. Her red eyes looked oddly empty, and she looked up at Diablo as he entered her view.

"Diablo," she said flatly.

"What do you want, mortal?" he growled back.

"My scans indicate that you possess the highest threat level of my opponents," she replied. "Therefore, I will observe you until it is time for our match to further analyze your skills and powers."

Diablo paused briefly before responding. "If you wish." He then walked past her, heading down the hall. KOS-MOS kept pace with him, walking slightly behind as her scans and sensors came to life, discerning what they could of Diablo.

--

Mega Man was very excited when he woke up to find his name written on the bracket. There had only been an hour left before it started. The young robot had immediately ran back to the bedrooms and woken up Zero, chattering excitedly. The older robot had taken some time to rouse and be alerted to the situation, but once he knew what was going on he went to walk with Mega Man towards the arena.

"It'll be hard to fight three people at once. You have to keep yourself focused on the battle and make sure that you don't lose track of anyone," Zero lectured. "You don't want to beat one opponent and then have another take you down while you're weakened and not paying attention."

"I know," Mega Man sighed, having grown a bit tired of Zero's constant instructions.

"Most importantly of all," he continued, oblivious to Mega Man's waning interest, "don't underestimate anyone. We don't know anything about Diablo or Arthas, and KOS-MOS is a mystery to everyone in Capcom."

Mega Man merely nodded this time. He was a bit apprehensive because of that fact; he had no idea what to expect from his opponents. Luckily, he was saved from further delving into the subject by their arrival at the arena.

"Alright, we're here. Go in there and show them what robots from our world are made of!" Zero said encouragingly, patting Mega Man on the back.

For everyone in our world's sake... he added silently.

--

Arthas stood before the entrance to the arena. He could feel it calling to him, smelling of blood and death. His sword begged to heed that call, pleaded him to bathe it in blood and feast upon the souls of his enemies. He grinned wickedly as he glanced down at his drawn sword, which appeared to be glowing.

"Frostmourne hungers..." he whispered.

--

"In-depth analysis complete," KOS-MOS said, standing right outside the arena. She had collected data on Diablo for hours, and had just finished processing it.

"Chances of victory without inhibitors: 99.652. Chances of victory with inhibitors: 36.86. Conclusion...

Inhibitors activated."

With that, KOS-MOS walked into the stadium.

--

**Match**

"Welcome to the second match of the Battle Arena here in our lovely castle!"

O'aka the item salesman's voice boomed over the stands as the competitors made their way onto the field. There was booming applause for Mega Man and KOS-MOS, scattered applause for Arthas, and polite (if frightened) applause for Diablo. Arthas and Diablo scowled at the spectators, while KOS-MOS simply stood there, and Mega Man waved enthusiastically at the crowd.

"Today, our fight will be Arthas Menethil vs Diablo vs KOS-MOS vs Mega Man!" O'aka continued after the cheering died down. "Promises to be exciting! Incidentally, if you wish to have a few items on you for your match, come down to O'aka's Item Emporium! We've got -"

Lucretia, who was standing in the commentator's box, cleared her throat loudly. She had allowed village staff to comment on matches, but only if they did not advertise.

"Er, right then," O'aka said, a little put-out. "Anyway, it's time to get started! BEGIN!"

Diablo immediately turned towards Arthas, ready to attack. He wanted to get rid of the cocky Death Knight as soon as possible. KOS-MOS, however, had different ideas. As soon as O'aka shouted "BEGIN!" she had drawn her energy pistol. Before Diablo could take even just a couple steps towards Arthas, she fired off several shots, hitting him in the chest with each. He stumbled back a couple steps, and the turned his attention to KOS-MOS, growling.

A jet of flame went flying towards her from Diablo. KOS-MOS was too quick for it, though, and she easily side-stepped the fiery projectile. Diablo kept firing them, jet after jet, but none ever hit KOS-MOS. She dodged, weaved, and jumped her way past all of them, getting closer to Diablo as she did so. But as soon as she jumped over a particularly large jet, Diablo switched up his spells; instead of more flames, he froze the ground where she was going to land.

As soon as he saw this, KOS-MOS flipped in the air. She was then able to land on her hand, sliding in the direction of her jump. Using that momentum, she pushed off the ground and flipped again, landing on her feet on the ice. Unfortunately, this took up a little too much time, and she was unable to avoid the next fire spell. The flames crashed into KOS-MOS and washed over her, but she quickly shrugged them off.

With a great leap, she somersaulted through the air towards Diablo. Before he could react, she had reached him, and threw a punch at his face in mid-air. He stumbled backwards again from the force of KOS-MOS' blow. She took that time to land and then leap up again to deliver another punch. Diablo was ready this time, though. He curled his hands into fists and slammed down, hitting KOS-MOS and sending her smashing into the ground.

Meanwhile, Mega Man was having a rather easy time of fighting Arthas. A grown man in heavy armor is quite a bit less nimble than a robot as advanced as KOS-MOS, and thus he was unable to dodge the plasma shots Mega Man was firing.

Hey, this isn't so hard, the robot thought. Just got to blow him back with a charge shot every now and then and -

Mega Man's thought was cut short when an incredible pain washed over him. The very air around him seemed to have taken on a sickly green haze. He could feel his body rusting, his circuitry beginning to break down, as if he was suddenly aging rapidly. Just as suddenly as it appeared, though, the haze vanished, leaving Mega Man injured but alive. While he had been under attack, however, Arthas had finally managed to close the gap, brandishing Frostmourne. Mega Man dodged backward, but he still caught a glancing blow on his arm. The unusual glowing sword actually managed to pierce his robotic armor, revealing some of his inner circuits.

Arthas followed up with another horizontal strike. Instead of dodging, this time Mega Man ducked underneath his reach, and slid between the Death Knight's legs. Building up a charge shot as he went, he fired a large blast at Arthas' back as soon as he had turned around. It propelled him through the air several feet, landing hard on his stomach. This turned out to be a good thing for Arthas, though. Seconds later, KOS-MOS came flying past where he was standing and crashed into the wall. A large fireball quickly followed, engulfing her.

Mega Man turned towards the direction that KOS-MOS had come from. Diablo was roaring in victory and walking to the hole in the wall she had created. But the triumphant smile on his face vanished as KOS-MOS stood up again and fired her energy pistol several times, burning his face and stomach. Mega Man jumped off to the side, narrowly avoiding a lightning bolt Diablo had randomly thrown in rage. Arthas was not so lucky, however; one them scored a direct hit on his chest as he was getting up, and he fell back down again.

Diablo was able to get ahold of himself soon and charged forward, snarling. KOS-MOS put away her pistol and began running forward as well, an energy blade materializing from her wrist as she did so. When the two were just a few feet away, she jumped up, going above Diablo and descending onto his head. He swiped at her as she came close, but he missed, and KOS-MOS landed near his neck, stabbing into it with her energy sword. Howling in pain, he thrashed about, and KOS-MOS was soon thrown from his body. As he began to calm down, his eyes fell on Mega Man, who had been watching the battle. A cruel smile formed on his lips.

Diablo began charging magical energy, focusing it all into his fingertips. He knew KOS-MOS would never have let him charge up this much power, but the other robot was too busy watching her recover to notice Diablo's actions. It only took a few seconds to finish his preparations, but this was going to be far more powerful than the spells he had been using thus far. His smile expanding into a wicked grin, Diablo loosed all the power he had stored in the form of huge lightning bolts, arcing their way towards Mega Man. The young robot turned towards Diablo too late; by the time he noticed the attack, there was no way for him to dodge it.

Salvation came from an unlikely source, however. KOS-MOS had dashed towards Mega Man as soon as she realized Diablo's target. At the last second, she jumped forward, kicking the blue Bomber and sending him crashing into the ground several feet away. KOS-MOS then took the brunt of the attack; the crackling and sizzling of her metal parts could be heard even in the stands. When it ended, she was kneeling, a pained expression on her face. Diablo, surprised if pleased by this turn of events, walked up to her, picking up her shaking form in his two massive hands. Flames could be seen leaking out between his fingertips, and it was obvious that he was assaulting her with magical fire, attempting to further heat the robot and short-circuit her.

Mega Man got up, disoriented from KOS-MOS' kick. Rubbing his head, he looked over at where he had been before and gasped when he saw Diablo holding KOS-MOS and laughing as she struggled to break free. He raised his arm cannon and started charging a shot, but paused when it was finished.

If I let Diablo defeat KOS-MOS, then I'll be one step closer to winning the match, he thought. But...she saved me from his attack just a minute ago. Still, she's really powerful...maybe it would be better if I just let them be.

Mega Man slowly lowered his arm cannon, mulling over his options. He had almost convinced himself to just let things be, when an image flashed unbidden across his mind. He saw Dr. WIly, standing over a crushed KOS-MOS and laughing manically. Shaking his head, he put on a determined glare and raised his buster again. Firing the powerful shot, it hit Diablo in the side of his head, making him shout in a mixture of pain and fury. In that moment, he dropped KOS-MOS, and he landed on her feet in front of him. Two gatling guns formed in her hands, and she pointed them up at Diablo's chest.

Thousands of bullets ripped into his flesh, magnifying his shouting a hundred times over. He flailed his arms uselessly, trying to attack KOS-MOS but unable to fight through her assault. It went on for a long time, KOS-MOS seemingly set on causing Diablo as much pain as possible. When her gatling guns finally stopped firing and wound down, he wobbled uncertainly. For a moment, it seemed he would continue the fight, but eventually Diablo fell onto his back. He was immediately teleported out of the arena.

"Looks like we've got our first casualty!" O'aka proclaimed excitedly.

Mega Man had watched the scene unfold after firing the shot at Diablo, and he was quite happy that the beast had been eliminated. He smiled, happy that his first fight was over. But something wasn't sitting right with him, a nagging thought in the back of his head. What could it be?

A moment later, it hit him: the first casualty. But that would mean...

He spun on the spot, intending to scan the arena for Arthas. But no sooner had he started than the familiar green haze covered him. The Death Knight was right in front of him, grinning and holding Frostmourne aloft. In the second or so that Mega Man was immobile from the shock of the assault, Arthas struck, impaling the robot through the stomach with his blade. The rapidly decaying inner workings of the Blue Bomber were cleaved by the sword, and it burst out of his other side.

"Miss me?" Arthas asked with an evil grin. He threw back his head and laughed as he twisted his sword in the robot's gut, delighting in the pain he knew he must be causing.

Mega Man could feel his vision fading and his consciousness fading. The surprise attack had taken a massive toll on his systems, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on. But once more, an unbidden image strengthened his resolve: once again it was Dr. Wily, but now his laughter was set to the scene of his world in flames. Gritting his teeth, Mega Man focused all of his will into his motor functions, raising his buster level to the gloating Arthas' face. With the last bit of his strength, he unloaded, firing shot after shot at point-blank range. The Death Knight had been far too busy laughing to see that Mega Man hadn't given up, and he fell backwards with a start, pulling Frostmourne out as he went. This time, he was teleported out shortly after landing.

"And there goes Arthas, folks!" O'aka cried. "Looks like Mega Man and KOS-MOS will be moving on, but who will take first?"

The young robot felt that this question was a cruel joke; how could he possibly beat even an injured KOS-MOS in this state. Still, he managed to turn to face her, clutching the gaping wound in his stomach. He was met with a shock when he found the blue-haired robot right in front of him, pointing her energy pistol at his head. He braced for impact, but when it didn't come for several seconds, he opened his eyes and looked curiously at her.

"Advancement secured," KOS-MOS said in her usual monotone. "Combat protocols shutting down."

And with that, KOS-MOS was teleported out of the arena.

**Post-Match**

"You never should have let him get so close to you!"

Mega Man sighed. He had been expecting this, of course; ever since they got there, Zero had been instructing him in tactics and strategy, insisting that he must be prepared for the battles. After the huge mistakes he'd made in that battle, it would be foolish to think that Zero wouldn't have anything to say.

"If you'd kept your eye on Arthas instead of watching KOS-MOS and Diablo, then he would have been out first!"

Zero was pacing up and down Mega Man's hospital bed, gesturing as he spoke. The impatience and anger were clear in his voice, but there was also a hint of worry.

"I'm sorry," Mega Man apologized for what felt like the thousandth time. "It won't happen again."

"It better not!" Zero scolded. "Considering what's at stake, we can't afford to -"

Zero was cut off when KOS-MOS walked into the infirmary. The blue-haired robot walked up to Mega Man's bed, her face as expressionless as always. Zero tensed up and gripped his saber, but Mega Man just smiled.

"Hi KOS-MOS!" he said cheerfully.

"Greetings, Mega Man," she replied.

There was a silence after this. As it stretched longer, Mega Man's smile faded, but KOS-MOS seemed oblivious to the increasing awkwardness of the situation.

"So...um...thanks for saving me from Diablo," Mega Man said to break the silence.

"Diablo possesses a higher threat level than you," she stated. "And that attack would likely have removed you from contention. I did not wish for Diablo to advance, so I aided your survival."

"Oh..." Mega Man said, somewhat disappointed. He'd thought KOS-MOS had just wanted to save him...

"However," she continued, "there were no benefits to you saving me. Therefore, your actions were completely altruistic. For that, I am grateful."

With that, KOS-MOS turned and walked back out of the infirmary. Zero looked at Mega Man, intending to continue his lecture, but held back when he saw the smile on the Blue Bomber's face from KOS-MOS' gratitude.

Just like X, he thought, so happy to be doing good.

"...sorry about being so harsh, Mega Man," Zero said apologetically. "I'm just...worried."

Mega Man shook his head. "It's okay, Zero. I should have paid better attention in battle. When I get out of here, will you help me train better for my next fight?"

Zero smiled. "Sure thing. And we can explore the castle a little bit too. There's probably a lot of things in here we haven't seen yet."

"Sounds great!" Mega Man said enthusiastically.

By ThisIsAnOddName


	60. Drive to Win

**Drive to Win**

Axel walked along the corridor to the arena, trying to think of more effective battle plans than the ones he had.

He doubted he would be able to beat Samus; it didn't look like chakrams or fire would get through that suit. Frog was a different story; he was defenseless and looked weak. Then again, appearances could deceive, but he definitely looked like easier fare than Samus.  
And Kerrigan…no one really knew what she could do. He'd cross that bridge when the time came.

Because he had to win.

"Axel!" He turned around, expecting to see Sora, but instead saw Roxas rushing forward to meet him. His surprise was temporary, as he remembered Sora and Riku were still a little angry at him for forcing them to come, even after he had explained why he had done so. Roxas understood, though.

"Hey, Roxas. How've you been doing?" Roxas stopped in front of Axel, his face looking worried.  
"Uh…okay, I guess. Listen Axel, you don't have to fight. The Lucretia lady said she'd make us real if we brought Sora and Riku, right? Well, we did. We don't need to do anything else." Axel shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She also said we needed to participate. Besides, I'm not taking any chances. I want to make sure she upholds her end of the bargain." Roxas' face fell, and after a short pause he sighed.  
"Yeah, I know you're right. I just don't want anything to happen to you. You're my only friend here, and now that we have a chance to become real…"

Axel uncrossed his arms, turned around, and continued walking toward the arena. "Don't worry about it. Those other contestants out there? They're tough, but they don't have nearly as much drive to win as I do. I'm going to win at any cost. Just watch."

**Match**

"Now we are here, ragazzos! This is the third match taking place in the Battle Arena, or as I like to call it, the Magnificent Coliseum!" Morrie the Monster Master had been chosen to be the announcer for match today, and he was using the full powers of his booming voice and enticing accent to get the crowd hyped up for the match to come. "In the Red corner, we have Axel, the ferocious firecaster, the boss of burns! In the Blue corner we have Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, the Zerg Commander! In the…uh…Yellow Corner, we have Frog, the aquatic amphibian, the small swordsman! And finally, in the…Orange Corner? We have Samus Aran, the suited soldier, the master mercenary!"

"Are you ready, ragazzos? Axel vs. Frog vs. Samus vs. Kerrigan! Let's…GET IT ON!"

Axel jumped forward, using his magic to propel himself towards Frog. The move seemed to catch him off guard for a second, but Frog quickly regained his composure and sidestepped out of the way. He brought down his sword on Axel as he shot past, but Axel managed to block the attack with one of his chakrams, deflecting the sword. Axel skidded to a halt, turning around to meet another attack from Frog. Despite the fact that Axel had two weapons to work with while Frog had one, it appeared that Frog was more skilled, as Axel was slowly pushed back by a flurry or strikes, unable to do anything but guard.

Samus gave a quick glance to the other side of the battlefield. Frog and Axel were still occupied; they wouldn't get in the way of her fight with Kerrigan. Although maybe it would be good if they did, as Samus didn't think she was going to win this one.

Kerrigan was too fast. Samus fired off a spurt of Power Beam attacks, only to watch Kerrigan's inhumane speed as she easily outran them. Kerrigan dashed forward, leaving Samus to back up as she desperately fired fire Power Beams, only for Kerrigan to contort her limbs around the attacks, dodging ever one. Just before Kerrigan reached her, Samus charged up a Power Beam shot, and waited until the exact moment Kerrigan struck to fire.

Kerrigan jumped back, the Power Beam missing her by inches. As a result, her claws only scratched the surface of Samus' armor. However, that scratch shouldn't have even been there, considering the durability of Samus' power suit. Just how strong was she, anyway?

Axel deflected an overhead sword strike from Frog, then propelled himself forward again, chakrams outstretched. Frog quickly jumped over Axel, barely avoiding him. Axel had anticipated this, though; he may look weak, Frog was surprisingly nimble and skilled. Axel stopped in mid-air, reached out is hand, and cast a different type of magic. Fire burst out of the ground and hit Frog, causing him to cry out in pain.

Before Axel could follow it up with a second attack, Frog's tongue stretched out of his mouth and attached itself to Axel's chest. Completely caught off guard, Axel didn't manage to block as Frog sped forward and sliced him across the chest. Frog's tongue detached, and Axel fell to the ground, seriously injured. As he got up, he expected more attacks, but instead saw Frog a good distance away…healing himself with a magic spell. This is not good, Axel thought.

Kerrigan's claws barely missed her enemy, but she didn't mind. She had honestly expected better sport from such an intimidating-looking opponent, but Samus couldn't even hit her! Samus fired off some more of her pathetic beams, which Kerrigan easily dodged. If that was all she could do, this match was over. Kerrigan had the speed and reflexes that most warriors dreamed of, and the ability to read minds as well. She knew exactly where Samus was going to shoot before she did, and fast enough to react on it.

But it was getting boring. It was time to end this farce. Kerrigan ceased reading Samus' mind, instead devoting her energy to a new ability: Cloaking. Her days as a Ghost still served her well.

Before Samus' eyes, Kerrigan would have seemed to vanish into thin air. And lo and behold, she was frantically turning her head around, looking for her opponent. Kerrigan repressed a laugh and slowly crept around Samus, being as silent as possible. Samus was charging up a Power Beam, but it wouldn't matter; she couldn't hit what she couldn't see.

Samus then shot her Power Beam directly at Kerrigan.

Stunned, Kerrigan didn't move before she took the Charged Shot right in the chest, blown backward by the force. How could Samus see her? It definitely wasn't chance. And it usually took special technology, like the stuff found in Terran Missile Turrets, or the all-seeing eyes of a Zerg Overlord, to be able to see something invisible. Yet Samus had just done so.

Kerrigan decloaked, and then moved out of the way to dodge a few Power Beam shots. She wouldn't bother trying to read Samus' mind, either; she knew now that Samus' attacks weren't strong enough to damage her much. The wound she had taken from the Charged Beam was already healing. She could still dodge almost all of them anyway, and she needed to rebuild her energy for the move that would end the match.

Frog cast a magic spell, and a jet of water appeared just in time to neutralize the pillar of fire Axel had just conjured. The two connected, creating steam in the air. Through the steam flew a chakram, thrown by Axel in an attempt to disguise the attack initially. Frog's battle senses, however, were too sharply honed to be tricked by something like that. Frog jumped to the right while slashing, dodging the chakram while deflecting it away from Axel at the same time.

Frog rushed forward, not wanting to miss the opportunity of fighting Axel while he held only one weapon, only to see that Axel's chakram was returning to its owner of its own accord. Axel snatched the chakram out of the air and deflected the attack just in time, only to take Frog's second strike, not managing to parry in time.

Axel fell back, weakened, but instead of pressing on, Frog backed up a bit. There was something in Axel's eyes…desperation? He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but he'd seen that look in the eyes of former enemies, right before they did something drastic.

Axel raised his hand in the air, and his chakrams started to spin, and somehow catch on fire. Frog readied a high-level water spell, hoping to stop whatever Axel was doing before he did it, but he was too late. The ground beneath Axel's feet turned to molten rock, and quickly spread out in a circle around him. Frog had no time to run, but surprisingly the rock didn't feel very hot under his feet. The circle was about 12 feet wide, now. What was he doing?

Then the edges of the circle exploded upward with fire, creating a ring of a fire surrounding the two fighters. Axel assumed battle position, only to jump backward into the flames and vanish.

Frog tensed. Was this Axel's plan? Could he somehow survive the flames himself, and then close the ring around Frog, burning him to death? Frog started to cast his water spell again, hoping to blow a hole open in the ring of fire and jump out before anything happened. He was about to cast it when he was struck from behind and sent flying.

Frog landed on his feet and whirled around, ready to counterattack, only to find that Axel wasn't there. Then he was struck from behind again, and managed to catch a glimpse of Axel jumping back again, disappearing into the flames again.

For a moment Frog thought he was jumping in from outside, but that didn't make sense. How could he see where Frog if he was outside the ring of fire? No, somehow Axel had merged with the fire, and was apparently able to un-merge at any time. Frog gripped his Masamune tightly; no matter where the attack came from, he'd be ready.

Axel appeared in front of him, but instead of attacking Frog, he attacked the ground, slamming his chakrams into it. Pillars of fire erupted from the ground, heading in a line straight for Frog. Frog jumped away from them only to be hit by a flying chakram, and was sent sprawling to the ground. After that he sort of lost track of the amount of attacks Axel did; the chakrams and fire came much more swiftly than before, and he could not dodge them all.

Finally, mercifully, the ring of fire disappeared, and Frog was left laying face-down in the dirt, without energy left to even heal himself. The only thing left to do was wait for the final blow.

Samus was getting desperate. None of her attacks hit, and she had taken a few more blows from Kerrigan's claws. Nothing serious, but it wouldn't matter if none of her Power Beam shots connected, and her opponent could heal away the few shots that did. Kerrigan just wouldn't stand still.

…Stand still? Well, desperate times called for stupid and ridiculous strategies. For the first time in the match, Samus switched weapons to her Ice Beam. As Kerrigan charged, she readied a Charged Ice Beam. Kerrigan swung her claws at Samus, connecting a glancing blow, but Samus didn't care. She needed the opening. Before Kerrigan could fall back, Samus fired the shot low.

It worked. The shot connected with Kerrigan's lower legs, freezing them and stopping her movement. Kerrigan vainly tried to move her legs, eventually screaming out in frustration. She reached down and started shredding the ice with her claws, only to be stopped by a Charged Power Beam to the face.

Samus continued firing, not letting up for an instant. Knowing that her attacks weren't doing much, Samus charged and fired a Super Missile attack, which hit Kerrigan directly in the chest. Samus realized her mistake too late; the force of the attack broke the ice and sent Kerrigan flying back. Samus continued firing, but Kerrigan dodged the attacks with ease. Once more, Samus was on the defensive.

Surprisingly, Kerrigan's stance relaxed. She stood up, not bothering to enter a crouching position that would make attacks easier to avoid, and looked Samus directly in the eyes. For an instant, Samus froze. There was something in Kerrigan's eyes…loathing? No, not loathing, not in the way humans looked at other humans. It was more like the loathing a person might have when looking at an insignificant insect.

Then Kerrigan charged, and for the first time in the fight, Samus felt fear.

Axel looked down at Frog's beaten form, satisfied. It was over. Well, his match, anyway. He glanced at Samus and Kerrigan to see that that match was probably going to end soon as well; Kerrigan had kicked it into overdrive, and was pummeling Samus like Samus wasn't even trying to put up a fight. Might as well help it along, Axel thought.

He threw his chakram at Samus, and the blow caught her unawares, making her defense even more pitiful than before. Kerrigan smiles with vicious glee, then raked her claws across Samus' visor, leaving deep indentations in the space-age glass. Samus fell to the ground, unable to do anything at this point.

"How…dare you!" Axel turned to Frog, who was struggling to stand. Axel was surprised; he'd thought the little guy was down for the count. "Striking from behind, while she is entangled in battle with another foe…have you no honor?" Axel thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Not really. I play to win."

Kerrigan smirked, backing away from her fallen foe. If she finished it now, the match would be over. She needed to take advantage presence of every fighter in one concentrated area while she could, and use it as an opportunity to use Psionic Storm.

Turning so that all three competitors – and most of the crowd – was in her view, Kerrigan started to build power.

Frog and Axel felt the surge of power. They turned to look at Kerrigan, who was smiling as she built up energy for whatever attack she was planning to do.

The crowd was silent. They knew that the match was about to end with a bang. They were wrong: the tournament was about to end.

"That attack…its power reached a level naught seen before! If unleashed, it will kill everyone!" Frog was frantic, trying to scramble to his fight and stop Kerrigan, despite the fact that he couldn't lift his sword.

Samus, however, was in better condition. She fired some Power Beam shots at Kerrigan, only for the Queen of Blades not to even bother moving out of the way. The shots connected, and did almost no damage.

Kerrigan laughed; she knew they couldn't kill before Psionic Storm was unleashed. Even if they somehow managed to muster up enough strength to use a powerful attack, she could dodge it. She knew it, and they knew it too.

Axel opened a door into the darkness. Leaving the arena would disqualify him, but who cared? Everyone was about to die. The match didn't matter anymore; he should just bail out while he had the chance.

Everyone was about to die.

Axel looked at the doorway, then at Kerrigan. He had done some bad things in his un-life, but deep down he had always considered himself one of the good guys. Somehow, he felt that if he stepped through that door, without doing anything at all to save everyone, that would change.  
He might be able to stop Kerrigan, but in doing so…

His mind was made up.

Axel stepped through the door to darkness, and disappeared.

Behind Kerrigan, another door to darkness opened up, and Axel stepped through. Before Kerrigan could realize what had happened, Axel had taken out his chakrams and driven them through Kerrigan's feet, pinning them to the ground.

The pain caused Kerrigan to freeze for a moment, during which Axel looped his arms against Kerrigan's, holding her as tight as possible.

"Now! Do something now!" he yelled, as Kerrigan thrashed around, swinging Axel around a bit.

Samus nodded slightly, although the motion went unnoticed inside her helmet. She hadn't used this before, as it would have drained her resources extremely quickly, but there wasn't much of a choice left. She switched to the Wave Beam, charged it up, then mixed the electricity with her missile supply.

A high-intensity beam of electricity shot out of Samus' arm cannon, searing both Kerrigan and Axel. The Wavebuster used Samus' missiles as a sort of fuel to phenomenally increase the power of her Wave Beam, making it one, searing beam of purple electricity.

The downside was that it depleted the missile supply very fast, and sure enough, in about ten seconds the Waverbuster stopped. Kerrigan's flesh was smoking, her breath ragged. Axel had received a little bit of backlash from the shock, but for the most part was fine.

Kerrigan waited for her wounds to start healing. They did, but far more slowly than before. Whether it was the severity of the wound or the fact that battling was finally starting to affect Kerrigan's stamina, her injuries were finally starting to keep.

Suddenly, a torrent of water crashed down onto Kerrigan and Axel, ripping Kerrigan's feet from the ground and sending them both crashing into the wall of the arena. The water pounded against them for a few moments, then subsided.

Axel slowly stood up, surprised. Frog's resilience continued to surprise him. And now, as he stared at the battered form of the once-mighty Queen of Blades, it was time for the curtain to drop.

He walked over to Kerrigan, still sensing the buildup of energy inside her. Nothing but sheer determination had kept her from breaking her concentration, and even now she stood up, ready to keep going.

Axel gathered all of his remaining energy, concentrating far more into his body than was normally safe. With no weapons, he charged at Kerrigan.

Kerrigan smiled. Her wings whipped forward, the claw-like ends of them grabbing Axel's arms. Then she reared back, and her wings pulled Axel forward, her claw going right through Axel's chest.

Instead of dying, like Kerrigan expected him to, Axel laughed. "Sorry, no heart." The air around him started to fizzle and glow red. Kerrigan pulled her claw out, this time aiming for Axel's head. She never got the chance.

Axel self-destructed. An enormous pillar of fire rose where the two fighters had been, engulfing them completely. The part of the crowd nearest to the pillar edged back, feeling the intense heat and not wanting to get to close.

The fire disappeared, and the dust quickly cleared. Axel was standing, and Kerrigan was not. The crowd cheered, thinking that an exciting match had just ended with the underdog managing to come through in the end, not noticing that what appeared to be black wisps were coming out of Axel's body.

Axel glanced at Kerrigan, and saw her being teleported out of the arena. "Hey, what do you know?" he said, as much to himself as anybody. "I didn't get last place."

And then he simply faded away.

**Aftermath**

At the moment, Roxas hated everyone, even if the feeling was irrational. He hated Axel for doing something so stupid as to sacrifice himself for people he barely knew. He hated the crowd for being initially oblivious to the fact that he was dying. He hated Samus for not beating Kerrigan on her own, and Frog for putting up a good fight against Axel and sapping strength that might've saved Axel's life in the end.

Axel had won. He had won! Frog was beaten; one more blow would've ensured Axel's victory, and his advancement on. Instead, he was dead, and to top it all off, Kerrigan wasn't. It was a close thing, but the infirmary room had managed to keep her alive. Where was the justice? Where was Axel's reward for doing as Lucretia had said?

Roxas hoped that Manny found a way to get to Twilight Town as soon as possible. Because when he did, he was going to leave this awful place, and go back to the only home he had ever known. Axel would've wanted it that way.

By KamikazePotato


	61. Twilit Dawn

**Twilit Dawn**

Prematch

Three hours remained until the start of the next match, and yet well over a hundred of the fighters couldn't care less, as they dreamed… Dreamed of victory, home, those they loved… One, Mudkip, dreamt of forming a very special relationship with a young and mentally handicapped boy. But there were four who wouldn't even think of sleep. Hours before, the names of four combatants had appeared on the scrolls each fighter had received when they arrived.

"Agent 47"

This name was met with little response from the other fighters. The hitman himself merely grunted in acknowledgement.

"Kratos Aurion"

Kratos the Spartan seemed to explode with glee when he first read it, only to later howl with disappointment. The true Kratos Aurion seemed barely phased. Lloyd, however, became a mixture of both anxiety and excitement.

"Midna"

This name's appearance gathered a huge reaction, with cheers heard all around Nintendo house. Not especially surprising, considering how closely-knit it was compared to Namco house.

"Scorpion"

The undead Ninja himself failed to notice this at first, mainly due to getting into yet another fight with his arch-rival, Sub-Zero. Even when he was informed at dinner, it was as if he wasn't even aware of it.

Despite their general apathy towards the draw, the upcoming match quickly invaded the minds of the four warriors, leaving them all sleepless as dawn drew nearer…

---

Agent 47 had been spending almost all of his time since the announcement in the dojo's target practice room. He hadn't missed yet. Nor had his bullet landed anywhere save exactly 3.1475 inches from the left temple of the poor cut-out. Agent 47 knew that he couldn't be more ready than he was now. He had already disarmed and floored Yoshimitsu on his way down to the shooting range, doing it with such ease and grace that an onlooker might have thought the two were dancing. A tiny smile came to the hitman's face.

His foes stood no chance.

---

Kratos Aurion, however, had decided to approach his preparation in a far different manner. He had spent the entire night reading, eagerly poring over books… No, not those books. He was searching for information… And the angel had learned a great deal.

Even after all of his 4000 years as a warrior… Not one rule meant more to him than "Know thy enemy". He had spent millennia in the world of Aselia, sometimes known as Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, and he knew more or less everything there was to know about the world. But here, in an alien place filled with alien people…

He felt weak. And so he locked himself away, learning everything he could in an effort to prepare.

Footsteps could be heard in the distance. They were faint, but they were definitely approaching, and Kratos already had a good idea who they belonged to.

"Lloyd." Kratos breathed after a short while. By this time, Lloyd was almost on top of him. "Go back to bed. You don't need to be here. You'll just-"

"Get in the way, I know, I know. But Dad, I just want to help." Lloyd said in almost a whimper.

"Don't bother. You should get some sleep"

"You know, you have to be the worst father ever. Don't push me away, Dad."

"Never mind things like that. Just… You should be focusing more on your own match…"

"But it might be ages away…"

"Lloyd, please think for once… You must be prepared at all times."

"Do I have to?"

Kratos sighed heavily before returning to his research. Lloyd tried to watch for a short while, but became not only confused, but extremely bored. He left after a few minutes, leaving the angel alone once more.

---

"I'll kill you, Sub-Zero! Then I'll resurrect you and kill you again!" Scorpion bellowed. His reason for staying awake throughout the entire night was totally different to that of his opponents. He had simply been going around in circles with Sub-Zero. There argument had been going along the exact same lines as it had five hours ago. Scorpion's most recent cry was the sixteenth time he had said those exact same words since sunset.

One would threaten to kill the other, and the other would brag about there strength, and give their own death threat in turn, which would get a response in kind from the other…

Sub-Zero broke this stale pattern abruptly. "Seriously though, be sure to win tomorrow's match. Kratos and Midna are supposed to be really tough…"

"Don't worry!" Scorpion growled. "I'll win this match, and then I'll kill you when we face off." He was grinning like a madman beneath is mask… "Just try not to lose yourself."

"I won't! By the way, I was only saying you should win so I can be the one to kill you!"

"Same here!"

---

Midna didn't think it right to waste her time with training, on the other hand. She floated around the Nintendo common room all night, not really doing anything at all. Occasionally, she'd stare at her house-mates while they slept. Link was probably the biggest victim of this.

Occasionally, a particularly graphic thought of the hylian would surface in the imp's mind. She attempted to suppress it, feeling guilty and rather embarrassed. She was glad that the others hadn't figured it out, but still, she felt annoyed at her own weakness. She should probably just say something to him. She'd flirted with the boy plenty of times; it couldn't be too bad, would it?

No, she shouldn't. There was absolutely no way anything could ever work between them. She floated out of the bedroom back into the common room, and lay in front of the fire, rather bored. After about half an hour, the bedroom door creaked open, and in came somebody who seemed familiar…

"Link!? Is that you?" Midna squeaked, only to be disappointed. It was Wander. "Pfeh. Don't bother me, pup."

And yet Wander seemed unperturbed. He ignored Midna's comment completely, and sat himself in front of the roaring flame next to the Twilight Princess. He focused on it, and could only think of his past…

"Wander… Are you crying?" Midna snorted. "Oh come on, I couldn't have said anything that bad."

Of course, Midna knew better. She could see what was bothering him. He missed his homeland, and she knew exactly how he felt. She was separated from her Twilight Realm for what felt like an eternity, and when she finally returned, she found nothing but desolation.

She felt like she was the first person who truly understood the Colossi slayer. She still had no idea what he was saying, but she at least felt like she knew now.

"Bah! This is pathetic!" She yelped, attempting to keep up her façade. "We can't just mope around and cry like this! I've got a match in the morning!"

**Match**

Before too long, light had invaded the castle grounds, waking those who still slept. The pleasantries before the match were unusually short, with 124 people ambling into the stands, many of whom were too tired to give their friends any words of advice. The four fighters had made their own way to the combatants' entrances, 47 and Kratos on one side, Midna and Scorpion on the other. The four stepped out into the arena, each taking one of the four sides…

Meanwhile, in the stands, most of the audience were struggling to stay awake. The first two matches hadn't started this early, and whose idea was it to have a match at the crack of dawn, anyway? They were about to find out…

"Bleh heh heh heh! BLECK!" A raspy, cackling voice cried out over the speakers. "Ladies! Gentlemen! Your commentator for today, master magician, fortune teller, and CHAMPION of DESTRUCTION… Is Count Bleck! And while we're at it, the one who advised Sirs Blood and Flame to reschedule this match's kick-off… Is also Count Bleck! Bleh heh heh heh heh!" The mad Count went into a fit of laughter, while the audience groaned in misery.

"Anyway, Combatants, ready yourselves… Commands Count Bleck!" Count Bleck said, taking a far softer tone this time.

Agent 47 removed the WA2000 Sniper Rifle from his back, and loaded it. He hesitated to take aim, not wanting to give any of his opponents the advantage. At a casual glance, he estimated Scorpion to be the biggest threat. He was worthy of the first shot, it seemed.

The other three merely took aggressive stances. Neither Scorpion nor Kratos drew their weapons… Midna merely floated in the air, seeming impatient and generally bored.

"3… 2… 1… BLECK!"

The four burst into action. Agent 47 raised his rifle, took aim, and fired within a second. The bullet soared directly towards Scorpion's left eye…

But before it could connect, the Ninja had vanished. He was quite literally nowhere to be seen. The crowd, waking themselves up, gasped with a blend of surprise and anticipation. Desperate, 47 quickly chose a new target: Kratos. However, he hadn't even raised the WA2000 before a punch connected with the back of his head. It was Scorpion. Scorpion dashed around the hitman, and struck with three blows to the chest.

In response, the hitman dropped his Rifle and quickly drew, seemingly from nowhere, two pistols. He opened fire on the Ninja, the blaring gunfire grabbing the audience's attention.

Meanwhile, Kratos and Midna had dashed at each other. Kratos grabbed the Flamberge from its scabbard, brandishing the great flaming sword at the imp. In return, Midna showed the warrior her own weapons. Three pointed locks of orange hair, moving around like bladed tentacles. One lashed out at Kratos like a Scorpion's tail, though he dodged it, another was on its way, colliding with Kratos' shield. The angel returned the favour with a wide, arcing slash from the Flamberge, only for the sword to be parried by Midna's third stylish yet effective weapon.

The imp grinned mischievously, and sent a small ball of dark energy at Kratos, who raised his shield in time to block it. However, this move gave Midna enough time to fly over the angel's head and strike at his back, her bladed mane seeking to impale him. Kratos, however, was smarter than Midna had hoped. He dived into a defensive position, and focused his magical power.

"GUARDIAN!" He shouted as the attack struck him. A force field of concentrated energy enveloped him, shielding him from whatever harm it could. It was enough to keep him in the game with no worries. The shield faded, and Kratos went back on the offensive, trading blows with Midna in a seemingly even duel.

Eventually, Midna retreated, cheekily luring Kratos with a giggle. Strangely, she was heading straight towards Agent 47 and Scorpion…

Neither of the other two fighters was making any ground on the other. 47 rained bullets on Scorpion, who did his best to dance around or block every single one. However, Anytime Scorpion attempted to move an inch towards 47, the agent would fire, and so the never-ending dance began…

Midna landed between the two, placing all four of her gangly limbs upon the ground. She began to focus… From beneath her, a wave of shadow rolled out, encompassing Agent 47 and Scorpion. As soon as they were swallowed by it, the two crashed to the floor stunned. Kratos soon followed suit. A grin formed on the imp's face, she knew it was over.

In the stands, chaos reined, each blow struck or shot fired causing the crowd to gasp. Or at least this was true for six of the eight house boxes. Sony house was all but silent, the villains merely observing with dead expressions. Save for Kefka, who danced around and laughed every time somebody received an injury, taking happiness from their pain.

The other house was house Microsoft. Vaan and Nathan Hale were trying to watch seriously, they honestly were. But with three small Pokémon chewing at the seats and their toes, Parappa rapping boisterously about the match while Agent J danced to it, the Midgar Zolom roaring, screaming, and asking for nominations, and the others generally being pains…

It was impossible.

Meanwhile in Nintendo house's box, they cheered for Midna's imminent victory, with Link spurring them on…

Midna prepared her final attack while keeping the others immobile for as long as she could. Kratos, however, would not stand for this. Though he could not move, he focused as best he could to break Midna's focus…

"GRAVE!"

A huge rock spire burst from the ground beneath the Princess, and several blades of stone followed, launching themselves from the arena floor and into Midna, who flew into the air and fell to earth with a crash.

As her concentration broke, so did the magic, her twilight field vanishing. The others were freed. Scorpion charged at Kratos while Agent 47 pursued him. Scorpion slashed at the angel with a Kunai, only for the Flamberge to knock it aside. However, Scorpion planted his foot squarely in Kratos' face, following up with three punches to the rest of the body. Kratos responded with another two slashes, but the Ninja evaded them with relative ease… Until he found himself being choked by Agent 47.

It was a beginner's mistake… He had let the assassin sneak up on him. Now, he was in a firm, deadly headlock, with not long left if he couldn't escape… Scorpion desperately grabbed a Kunai from his person, and stabbed the clone in the crotch.

Agent 47 leapt back, yelping in pain. However, he managed to retain his composure quickly enough to catch Scorpion's fist and deliver his own. Scorpion was knocked to the floor.

Kratos began to chant a healing spell, however, he was not its only target. 47 was as well. As long as he was alive, he wouldn't have to face Scorpion alone… Improving his chances of winning.

47 felt some of his wounds vanish. He exchanged a friendly look with Kratos. Perhaps an alliance would be a good idea…

Nobody seemed to notice that Midna had risen, and was gathering what power she could it was time for her secret weapon to reveal itself…

Three twisted objects began to circle around her. They almost looked like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, yet one none of the spectators had ever seen before, with the exception of Link and Ganondorf. The Hylian looked concerned, while the Gerudo King merely smirked. These were the Fused Shadows… Mighty and powerful ancient relics of the Twili, who had sealed them away out of fear for their use…

The objects clamped down around Midna, forming a sort of black helmet, totally concealing the imp.

All the while, Kratos and 47 continued to clash with Scorpion. Scorpion traded punches with 47, while narrowly avoiding Kratos' slashes. However, he was losing ground, fast. The Ninja, despite his undeath, was beginning to feel tired. Each strike at him was becoming more difficult for him to block. With twice as many strikes at him per second, he knew he wouldn't last for much longer. It was time to retreat for now.

And so Scorpion vanished.

Confused, his two attackers looked at each other. He didn't seem to be coming back any time soon. Each looked at their partner, and after a short while, 47 spoke.

"Kratos… That was a good idea back there."

"Thanks." Kratos responded. "But don't get comfortable. Midna isn't finished yet, and Scorpion's here somewhere."

"I know" Kratos suddenly felt a very violent impact into his forehead as he fell to the floor. "Which is why it I think it's best if I take out whoever I can. I could settle for second. And with four people here, that's going to be tough."

47 had headbutted the angel. The Agent drew one of his pistols, and approached Kratos slowly, preparing to fire.

Only Kratos reacted before he had the chance. He leapt to his feet, Flamberge in hand, and stabbed the hitman directly in the stomach. Agent 47 gasped with a mixture off surprise and pain. However, he still struggled and raised his weapon, hoping to fire… But Kratos struck again, this time with a thrust to the chest.

47 collapsed to his knees, and then to the floor, drifting into unconsciousness. He had survived worse… Surely he could do so again…

"BLEH HEH HEH!" Count Bleck roared out over the speakers. "AGENT 47 IS ELIMINATED! BLECK!" The count went into another fit of maniacal laughter, while several members of the crowd cheered. Sony house seemed particularly impressed at Kratos' display of violence and his surprising lack of mercy.

Meanwhile, Midna's final attack was finally ready. From the helmet that encased her, several long, orange arms protruded. They stunk of darkness, oozing it. Like a giant, monstrous Spider, Midna rose, and ascended into the air. First, she located Scorpion, who had been ducking and diving around the stadium since he made his "exit". All of the arms suddenly descended, stretching from the skies to the ground, and crashed into him.

Fortunately for Scorpion, he had noticed in time, and dived away from the attack. However, Midna pursued, smashing the ground with her gargantuan arms. Scorpion evaded as best he could…

The beast above caught Kratos' attention immediately. Though Midna seemed good, this power reeked of all that was unholy. It bled the dark. And Kratos had only one solution. He had to eliminate it before it wreaked destruction upon all that was good.

Kratos began to focus. He summoned forth all of the power he had left, and called upon his divine masters for aid. The Cruxis Crystal on his wrist began to glow a bright red, and a set of purple, angelic wings burst from his back. He had not wanted to use his Seraphim powers at this point, but he simply had to.

Midna bore down on Scorpion, finally catching him in an arm. The great, dark hand was charged with dark energy, which coursed into Scorpion's body, sending him into agony. He writhed, until Midna saw it fit to throw him aside like a rag doll. She believed that she had won, not noticing that Scorpion was slowly rising to his feet…

Kratos reached the final stages of his spell. He cried out unto the heavens, "Sacred powers! Cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls! Rest in peace, sinners!"

Half of the crowd seemed mystified, the other half roared with applause.

Kratos cried out the end of his chant…

"JUDGMENT!"

Like sparkling rain, pure bolts of holy light crashed into the stadium. Midna realized what was happening, and sent all of her dark power at Kratos, sending blast after blast at him in desperation. Kratos moved too late to avoid them, and took three bolts of pure darkness, each the size of his own body.

However, it seemed over for Midna as well, ray after ray crashed into her, dissolving her form. Heavenly justice clashed with the darkness of twilight, and broke it down to nothing. the Twilight Princess screamed out in agony as the Judgment melted her away, until only the helmet remained… Everything seemed to go white, the spell blinding all who had looked for a few seconds…

Eventually, vision returned to the crowd. Kratos was till standing, panting heavily. Midna and Scorpion were nowhere to be seen. Had he won?

No. Kratos felt a light tapping on his left shoulder, and turned around to see Scorpion. Normally, Kratos would have struck in time, but his entire body was aching from what Midna had done to him. He struggled to grab his sword, but before he could, his opponent ripped off his mask to reveal a malevolent looking skull.

Flames poured from the grim mouth, enveloping Kratos. The angel called up his Guardian shield once more, but it was quite frankly, not enough. It faded after a while, and Kratos dropped to his knees. He placed his sword on the ground, and threw his arms into the air. Death wasn't something he wanted to risk, especially not after what he had learned from Lloyd long ago… And if he continued to fight in his weakened form…

"I surrender."

Scorpion hurled his arms up above his head and struck a rather cheesy victory pose. He had won. Agent 47 was on the ground, dying. Kratos had surrendered, and it seemed that Midna had been killed by Kratos' last attack…

The count's voice roared over the speakers yet again. "WHAT'S THIS? Midna's gone? Killed by Kratos, perhaps?" In the stands, Link felt a tear roll down his cheek. How could she…

"HEY! I'M NOT DEAD!"

Midna rose from the ground, seemingly appearing out of the floor. "I was just hiding!" She giggled. Link felt a wave of relief pass over him. However…

Scorpion was not amused. He charged at the unsuspecting Princess, and knocked her to the floor. And yet before they could even fight, yet another abrupt result was declared.

"That settles it, then! In fourth, Agent 47! Better luck next year. In third, Kratos Aurion! Very good performance, though! In second, and advancing to the next round with our winner, Midna! And that means that today's winner has to be…

SCORPION!"

Oddly, very few members of the crowd were actually impressed. The applause seemed almost forced. Only one other person really knew Scorpion, and that was his sworn enemy… Who had proven a massive help to the Yellow-clad warrior.

"That's all for today… Commentated Count Bleck!"

**Aftermath**

Agent 47 woke up. All around him, the walls were white. He was lying on a bed… He could barely remember anything. He was fighting… And in a rather clichéd manner, the next thing he knew he was lying here. The presence of medical apparatus suggested that he was in a Hospital. But why? He tried to rise, but was sent back down by an incredible pain in his torso.

"I wouldn't try that, if I were you." A young man entered the room. He had messy brown hair, a pair of spectacles, and a sort of cocky smirk upon his face. "I mean, you were almost killed by Kratos."

The man sat down next to him, placing himself on the edge of the bed. "In fact, with all that blood you lost, I myself am quite surprised."

"…Who the hell are you?" Agent 47 found himself struggling to say. The hitman rasped his words, and every syllable brought him only agony.

"Oh come on. That's no way to greet the man who saved your life. I mean, if I weren't so brilliant…"

"Does this conversation have a point?" 47 croaked.

"Doctor Derek Styles, at your service." The man extended his arm and 47 weakly did the same. The two shook hands. "Listen, you'll be here for a couple of days at least. You'd better get some rest. But don't worry, we've prepared video arrangement so if you want, you can still watch the matches."

But 47 didn't really care. He'd lost, it made no difference to him how the others fared.

---

Kratos Aurion, on the other hand, had made his own way out of the Arena. He was currently heading towards the Namco house common room, where he planned to wash away both the soot he was covered in and the shame of his defeat in as hot a shower as he could manage.

Should he have won? Perhaps if he had known that Midna was still alive and merely hiding… Would he have done things differently? Would he have lost regardless? The Twilight Princess was clever. Maybe she would have defeated him anyway… But if she hadn't been there… Could he have been able to defeat Scorpion?

It didn't matter. Dwelling on the past was a mistake he had made before. He had learned a valuable lesson. He was out of the tournament, but he still had the next year to look forward to.

"Kratos!" A familiar voice cried out, chasing after him. It was Lloyd. "Dad… You lost…"

"Yes. But I have only gained from losing. As a swordsman, you should know that defeats are just as valuable as victories."

"But if it weren't for Midna-" Lloyd began, only to be cut off quite vehemently.

"Lloyd, it doesn't matter. You can't change the past, so there's no use complaining about it. You yourself once told me something similar."

A third voice joined the conversation, causing Lloyd to groan. Zelos, in a rather cheery manner, approached the "Happy Family"

"Hey guys!" He said with enthusiasm, "Kratos, nice match! Too bad that imp got in the way, huh? Ah well, you're just one less fighter to worry about!" He continued, beaming the entire time.

"Zelos, shut up." Lloyd yelled at the pink-clad swordsman, feeling rather embarrassed and annoyed. Kratos, on the other hand, merely shot him a cold, hard glare. He knew Zelos better than most people. He could see through his façade. Zelos seemed to know that Kratos could tell, as well.

"Say, Lloyd." Zelos proclaimed with a rather patronizing tone in his voice. "Why don't you run off and play or whatever. The grown-ups have something to talk about."

"FINE!" Lloyd bellowed, obviously angry. "Nobody wants me here, anyway…" He left, feeling dejected.

"Now that he's gone…" Zelos began.

"Don't get too comfortable. I'm not sure what exactly you're doing here, but I know you're up to something." Kratos said coldly. "And I'm not the only one who has my suspicions."

"Heh. The years have taught you well." Zelos remarked. "But Kratos, there's no reason to worry. You know I'm a good guy deep down."

"A bit too deep, if you ask me."

"We'll see. I just wanted to see if I was right about you, and I was. You always were a bit too clever. Now, if you'll excuse me, Hunnies don't seduce themselves. I'm thinking about Rikku for today. What do you think?"

The Seraphim ignored the last statement and continued towards his common room. He wasn't done with Lucretia's Bend or the Castle. There was so much more to learn.

---

Midna felt embarrassed, defeated, and ashamed. She had advanced to the next round, but she had lost in so many ways. She had to hide in order to survive. Had she not been so cowardly…

She had let Scorpion get the upper hand on her while she complained and bickered. A warrior could never make such foolish mistakes…

And most importantly, she had let Kratos destroy her secret weapon. She had intended to use the Fused Shadows to win the whole tournament, but his Judgment attack had totally annihilated them. Her greatest weapon was gone… Kratos was not the only one who had made novice decisions at vital moments. With shame, she headed back to Nintendo's common room. Maybe, with some rest, she could find some good in all of this, and make that work for the next round.

However, when she got there, it wasn't empty. Link was already there, holding a rather tacky "CONGRATULATIONS!" banner he must have picked up at some store. Link smiled rather awkwardly at the girl. She attempted to grin back, but… She was too ashamed. She tried to keep smiling and just kept heading for the dorm rooms…

"Midna…I thought you died." Link spoke, apparently full of sorrow. "Please… Don't do that to me again."

"What are you, weak?" Midna barked back. "But Link…" She began, this time using a softer tone… The following words never seemed to come. She was filled with regret as she headed for her bed, where she would remain for hours.

---

"EXCELLENT!" Screamed Sub-Zero. He was excited at the prospect of being able to kill Scorpion legally. Had he lost, this could have never happened. Scorpion on the other hand, felt… Well, exactly the same as Sub-Zero did, but swap the names around.

The two were walking back to Namco's area, with a strange lack of violence or tension between the two. There was still the occasional "I'll kill you!" but other than that, the conversation was almost friendly. Almost. Neither thought any higher of the other, and they were still sworn enemies.

---

Tonight, Scorpion would feast like few had feasted before, while Midna would hang her head in shame, Kratos would focus on his mistakes, and Agent 47 would be unconscious in hospital… The rest of the day would be filled with both disgrace and celebration.

By Lightning Strikes


	62. Occurrences at Night

**Occurrences at Night**

A shadowy figure jumped across the rooftops of the castle plaza, covering the distances between them easily. He made one final leap off of Oaka's Item Emporium, doing a flip in mid-air to land in front of the Jay Solano fountain slash statue.

"The Green Thunder returns!" Mr. L surveyed his surroundings, disappointed. He could only appear at night, when his lesser half went to sleep. And he had to make sure no one would recognize him for Luigi, so he had to prowl where it was dark and there was plenty of room to maneuver. The plaza was perfect; it fit the criteria, and there always seemed to be one person hanging around here at night.

"Hey! You over there by the stupid fountain!"

Mr. L tensed. If this was someone smart enough to recognize him, he would either have to retreat for now or make sure the person didn't live to tell anyone.

Duke Nukem stepped into the little light there was.

Mr. L relaxed. From what he had heard, there was no danger in this fellow. "Hey…you're that Sonic guy, right?" Hypothesis confirmed. Duke Nukem's face went from arrogant to even more confused. "Wait, no, you can't be Sonic!" Mr. L assumed fighting stance; he had to stop this before word got out that Mr. L was in fact not L-Block.

"You have to be Seymour! The one who wrote me that letter!"

"…What letter?"

Duke Nukem pulled a crumpled up letter out of his pants (not his pockets…his pants), cleared his throat, and started to read. Slowly, as the effort of reading probably taxed his mental facilities to the fullest.

"Dear Duke..Nukem. I think…you are super hot. I am…super hot too. Meet me by the…foun…fun…big water thing…in the middle of the pizza. I mean, plaza. I will show you…a good timmy. Team. Time! A good time.

Love, Seymour Asses"

Duke shoved the letter back down his pants, then frowned at Mr. L. "You're not Seymour, are you? You don't look nearly as hot as the letter said you would be."

Mr. L couldn't help but facepalm himself. "No, I am definitely not Seymour…Duke Nukem, is it? Don't you find anything strange about the name 'Seymour Asses'?"

Duke put his hand underneath his chin, stroking it, trying to look like he was thinking hard. The attempt failed, as he quickly noticed that he could have a sword fight with some of his fingers. Just as his right pinky was about to deliver the coup de grace to his left thumb, two of Duke's brain cells managed to collide, forming what most people call an idea.

"Wait! Seymour Asses? That can't be right!

Seymour is a boy name! Ah man, now everyone's going to think I'm !"

Mr. L assumed battle position once again. If he listened to this oaf talk any longer, his IQ would drop faster than a long-haired swordsman's blade into a flower-girl's back.

"WHAT ARE DOING"

Mr. L and Duke Nukem turned to find CATS, somehow only feet away from them. How had he snuck up on them like that?

"Hey…it's you! Seymour Asses! I'm not a , you freak! I'll rip your balls out! I'll pump you so full of lead you'll be used to make a pencil!"

"ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US"

"No they don't, damnit! Those are my base! Give them back, Seymour!"

Unbeknownst to them both, the Green Thunder had run at the first sight of Duke spouting one-liners, fearing for his sanity.

---

Marcus slowly regained consciousness, his senses gradually returning. The first thing he felt was pain. Pain in his head, to be specific. There would definitely be a nasty bruise where that pain was, he thought.

The next thing to come back was his sense of smell. Unfortunately. The place around him, wherever he was, stank to high heaven. It was as if no one had cleaned it in years.

Then his touch returned, and he could feel the cold, stone floor underneath him. Bits of dust and grime were on the floor, reinforcing the 'no cleaning' theory.

He didn't taste blood, so that was probably good.

But he couldn't hear or see anything. For an instant his confused brain thought he lost those senses, but then he realized that it was just dark and his eyes were adjusting to the lack of light. And that there was nothing to hear down here.

Marcus thought back, trying to think about how he had gotten into this mess, but all he could remember was walking down the corridor to his house. He had stayed up late perusing some of the Merchant's weapons, to the point where almost everyone else was asleep.

He vaguely recalled being hit in the back of the head, hitting the floor, and blacking out. He couldn't recall who did it, though, or why they had put him here.

Marcus could now finally see his prison: a room only about 10 feet wide and long, with no windows or anything inside it but a door directly in front of him. He stood up, and happy to find out that the blow wasn't anything serious.

He checked his pockets and belt to find that, for some reason, his weapon hadn't been taken away. Whoever had kidnapped him was either very shoddy or very confident.

Taking a more careful look around the room, that's when he first noticed it. A red amulet, lying on the floor directly in front of him.

Marcus slowly leaned forward, gently poking the amulet with his pistol. Nothing happened. In one quick motion, he grabbed the amulet and stuffed it into his pocket. If it had been left for him purposely, he doubted his mystery attacker had gone through the trouble of hauling him down to a dungeon just to leave a trap for him. And if it had been left behind accidentally, well, why pass up a free amulet?

Marcus crept up to the door, readying his pistol. His plan was to shoot the lock, kick the door open, run like hell, and hope that he didn't meet any unsavory characters.

Then he noticed the door was open.

Only slightly, but it certainly was locked. He gently pushed it open, wincing as the door creaked loudly, shattering the silence. No one came. The hallway seemed to lead upstairs, back into the castle. What was the point of all this?

To give me the amulet without me finding out who did it.

Marcus considered leaving it behind, but remembered the way he had been brought here. His 'benefactor' was leaving a message: take it, or worse will happen. If it was a gift that could be refused, he would have left it on Marcus' pillow or something.

Marcus broke into a sprint, deciding not to tell anyone of the incident. The best he could do was watch his back more intently and hope the amulet didn't explode on him.

By KamikazePotato


	63. A Murder

**A Murder**

Isaac and Serge stood on the stairway leading to the rooftop of the castle. As it was ten stories high, no one ever came up here. Which is why they had picked the spot – they just wanted to talk and get to know each other without outside interference. It seemed like they had quite a few things in common.

"Do you ever just feel like not talking?' Serge asked. Isaac nodded. "It's weird for me. Sometimes I feel like talking nonstop, but other times I'm just content to let other people talk for me. I never quite figured out why…" Serge nodded. "…" Isaac nodded back. "…"

The silence was enjoyable, but it didn't last long. The sound of a gunshot suddenly exploded from the top of the roof. Serge and Isaac were stunned for a second; they had never heard the sound of a gun firing so close. Another shot rang out, snapping both of them out of their shock. They sprang into action, running up the stairwell as fast as they could.

They reached the rooftop, anxiously looking around to see who had fired the shot. They didn't see the person with the gun, but they did manage to find the person who had been shot.

Isaac racked his brain, trying to remember who the person was. Red hair…pink shirt…sword…he just didn't remember seeing the person around much. He obviously wasn't in Sega house.

Serge gave the rooftop another look around, making sure the gunner wasn't around anymore. The person was hurt badly; it looked like he had been shot in the chest. However, they wouldn't do him any good if they moved to help him and they ended up getting shot down as well.

Satisfied that the attacker was gone, Serge moved to help the person. And almost froze with fear. In their haste to find the attacker, they had neglected to notice that the victim, who didn't seem to be realizing where he was going, was walking straight towards the edge of the rooftop.

"No!" Isaac cried out. He ran to stop him, but the victim didn't seem to hear or seem him. He just kept shuffling forward with a look of shock in his eyes. Before they had even crossed half of the rooftop, he reached the edge, and tipped over the guardrail. His eyes snapped back to reality, a look of terror in them, as if he had realized what he'd just done. Then he was gone.

Isaac and Serge reached the edge, looking down. He had already passed from view; it was a bit of a foggy day, and they were high up. No one could've survived that fall, especially with a bullet wound.

Serge's hands clenched the ineffective guardrail. If they had been faster, and not taken so much time looking for the gunner…

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Serge turned to look at Isaac, who was slightly shaking his head. "It's not our fault. Don't blame yourself." He sighed. "I guess…we'd better go tell the others. Someone's been murdered."

---

Lara sat in the common room, polishing her .357 Desert Eagle pistol. She didn't know who had scuffed it, but when she did she was going to have a talk with them about messing with other people's stuff. She would let her pistol speak for her.

She heard footsteps walking toward her, and looked up to see a man in a blue suit and purple tie standing in front of her. She identified him as Phoenix Wright, a master lawyer from his dimension. She didn't doubt his intelligence, but she couldn't help but wonder why an attorney was picked to enter a fighting tournament.

"Ms. Croft? I'm here to inform you that I'll be representing you in the upcoming trial."

Lara started to feel uneasy. "What trial?"

Phoenix's eyebrows rose. "No one told you? Well, I guess they wouldn't…you've been charged with the murder of Zelos Wilder, who was shot and killed earlier today".

Lara stood up, gripping her pistol tightly. "What are you talking about? Murder that idiot? What kind of a joke is this?"

Phoenix pulled out a small folder from inside his suit. It was marked 'Court Records'.

"Evidence A: Testimony from Serge and Isaac, two contestants from Sega house. They heard the sounds of gunfire somewhere around 11:00 in the morning. At the time they were standing on the stairwell near to the roof. They ran up the stairs to see what was wrong, and found the victim staggering toward the edge of the roof. Before they could stop him, he tumbled and fell over. Body has not yet been recovered, but both Serge and Isaac saw a chest wound, and adding that to the height of the fall indicates that Zelos did not survive."

"Evidence B: Serge and Isaac both confirm that the victim had long red hair, a pink shirt, and a sword. The only contestant who fits that description is Zelos, and the fact that he hasn't turned up to debunk rumors of his own death proves him to be the victim."

"Evidence C: A gun was found near the scene of the crime, on a different stairwell from the one Isaac and Serge were using. It was identified as a .357 Desert Eagle. Other people have confirmed that the only person to have such a weapon is you, Lara Croft."

"Evidence D: While not definite, Isaac and Serge are from Sega house, known for loyalty. It is doubtful that they would lie about this."

"Evidence E: Again, while not definitive, people have stated that you expressed dislike toward Zelos. I just heard you call him an idiot when I walked in."

Lara tried to get her thoughts together. A few minutes ago she was calmly polishing her gun. Now she was probably going to be disqualified over something she didn't do."

"When…when is the trial?"

"We're going to continue searching for evidence, as we don't have anything definitive. As soon as me and Edgeworth think we have enough, we're going to have the trial. It could be anywhere from tomorrow to the day before your match. Now, I'll need to ask you some question…"

"No, later." Lara over to the stairs. "Right now…I need to think."

Phoenix nodded. "I see. I'll come back later." Lara ignored him, walking up the stairs to her room.

She knew what she was going to find, but she still had to check. She had only brought two Desert Eagles with her. She kept one with her at all times, and one underneath herm mattress. She was hoping to trick people into thinking she only had one weapon, but…

Lara reached her bed and pulled up the mattress, expecting to find nothing. So she was surprised when she saw that there was a gun there, right where her Desert Eagle had been.

It was not, however, her Desert Eagle. Lara reached down to pick up the gun, they recoiled back, remembering fingerprints. They probably couldn't do that kind of testing here, but better safe than sorry. She picked up a bedsheet, draped it over he hands, and then picked up the gun.

She didn't know anything about it other than that it was very old. It was more of an antique then a weapon. She was surprised to find that it only contained one bullet.

After some thought, Lara placed the gun where it had been and fixed her bed. Why had the person who had stolen her Desert Eagle replaced with another gun? She was going to have to find out as much about it as possible and then see if anyone had brought that type of gun with them. And secretly take it to get its ammo replenished, as she was going to have to use it to fight when her match came.

Of course, there was still the biggest mystery of all: who would want to kill Zelos?

By KamikazePotato


	64. Deus ex Phylacterium

**Deus ex Phylacterium**

Tom Nook stared at the sheet in his hands, waiting for the names of the contestants of the next match to appear. He had collected rudimentary information on every character, learning what kind of weapons and skills they used. Because when someone learned they were about to fight, they might be more inclined to do a little last-minute shopping, and Tom would know exactly which prices of which items to jack up.

The first name appeared: Kefka. Tom Nook shuddered. Not only was there no chance of him selling anything to this maniac, but Kefka was one of the people here he actually feared. Not for any particular combat prowess, but because Kefka was insane. No one could truly guess what his motivations were, or what his next decision would be. For all they knew Kefka would randomly flip out and try to kill everyone over someone bumping into him in the hallway, or getting dust on his boots, or something.

The next name appeared: Marcus Fenix. All Tom knew about him was that he used guns. Which is all he needed to know. He made a mental note to double the price of every firearm he had in stock, while labeling everything as 'rare, limited time only' deals.

Then the third name appeared: Tom Nook.

Wait, what?

Tom read it over a few times before it registered. Then started to panic. Him? Fighting so soon? He knew he would have to fight eventually, and he also knew he'd probably lose in the first round, but he never thought that he would have the incredible bad luck of being paired up against Kefka. The odds were slim, but it was the worst possible enemy he could face. To gain respect among the motley crew of Sony house, he had humiliated Kefka. The insane, loose-cannon god-mage. And know he had to fight Kefka.

Worst of all, no profits would be made. He couldn't sell anything to himself, after all.

And the last name…Zelos Wilder? The guy who had just died? Tom Nook once again cursed his bad luck. Going up against Kefka and possible profits restricted to one character? Could a day get any worse for a semi-weak entrepreneur?

---

Kefka shouted with glee when he saw his name. Finally, it was his turn to fight! His turn to kill! His turn to make things explode with magic!

He got even more excited when he saw the third name appear. Tom Nook? The dreaded raccoon that haunted his reputation? Oh, joyous day of joyous days! He would finally be able to fry the little vermin, make him pay for daring to humiliate the God Kefka!

---

Lloyd and Kratos Aurion watched the roster fill itself, like it did every day there was a match. No one was quite sure how it worked, but it was a very efficient system, so no one really cared.

Each name interested them, made them wonder how the match would play out. Then the last name on the roster appeared.

Lloyd clenched the roster in his hands, crinkling the paper, a pained look on his face. Kratos touched his sword, honoring another warrior who had also lived by the blade. He couldn't help but think how ironic it was that if he had lived one more day, he would've been able to have his match.

"Zelos…"

---

**Match**

"Introduction: Greetings, meatbags. I, HK-47, will be the announcer for this match, as no other possible announcers wanted to get within a 50 feet proximity of Kefka if necessary. Supplicant: I am only here because I was promised that I would be allowed to maul Duke Nukem if I complied with their agreement. Addendum: I won't be doing much announcing after this, meatbags, as I still don't like any of you. Match begin."

The three fighters on the field stared at HK-47 for a few seconds, then looked at each other in confusion. That was it? In introduction? Just "Match begin."? Apparently, Kefka didn't care after the first few seconds, firing a bolt of lightning at Marcus.

Marcus rolled out of the way, bringing his pistol up to Kefka's level. He fired off a few shots, aimed at various parts of Kefka's body. Kefka moved to the side, easily dodging all of the shots. Marcus was initially surprised; Kefka didn't look like the speedy athletic type. But when an axe thrown by Tom Nook was just as easily dodged, Marcus noticed that Kefka didn't seem to be running. He was more…gliding.

Tom Nook pulled out his fishing rod, casting it at Kefka. It slowly sailed through the air toward Kefka, causing the clown to laugh and incinerate the line with a simple fire spell.

Not the smartest idea I could've had, Nook thought to himself.

He watched as Marcus blazed through another pistol cartridge, using the time Kefka quickly dodged the bullets to just as quickly reload the gun. It made Nook despair. If bullets couldn't hit Kefka, what would? He didn't exactly have many useful long-range weapons or abilities to work with, and Kefka was just toying with them. Marcus jumped backward just in time to avoid a pillar of fire that erupted from the ground underneath him. Kefka laughed again, dodging the oncoming spray of bullets without a care in the world.

Tom Nook reached into his pocket, and pulled out a leaf. It was his trump card, but he didn't have many options left, and without Zelos to help them defeat Kefka, they would never win.

He tossed the leaf onto the ground, stepping back a bit. It exploded in a puff of smoke, then rapidly expanded into a large bulldozer. The crowd gasped; where had that thing come from? Kefka and Marcus stopped their exchange to stare at the large machine that had just popped out of thin air. Nook was already inside it, starting the engine and charging towards Kefka at full speed.

Kefka merely smiled, not even bothering to move. Nook began to worry; surely he would've tried to dodge a bulldozer. Not even Kefka was that overconfident. Then, the bulldozer started to slow down, slowly, slowly, until it came to a halt about ten feet away from Kefka. As Tom Nook tried to figure out what was wrong, he realized that the bulldozer had gotten very, very cold, and was getting colder. Kefka had frozen the engine, and hadn't stopped there.

Nook bailed from the bulldozer, only pausing to see what had become of it. The entire thing had frozen over, becoming a giant freakish ice sculpture. Kefka's laugh rang out, and the bulldozer shattered into pieces, large chunks of the ice sent flying in different directions. Tom Nook ducked, barely avoiding a jagged piece of bulldozer-ice that grazed the fur on top of his head. Marcus jumped and ran to avoid being skewered, all of his dodges near misses.

Kefka slowly glided towards Tom Nook, staring at him with an excited and gleeful face. Magical energy started to crackle around him.

Tom Nook stood up straight, dusted off his uniform, and cleared his throat. "Yeah…I quit. This isn't worth it."

Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Kefka broke it with a loud scream. "Quit? WHAT DO YOU MEAN QUIT? I WAS SAVING YOU FOR LAST, YOU LITTLE RODENT!"

"Which is exactly why I quit. I am a businessman, and a good businessman knows when to cut his losses and bow down. Not that I have to do that often, but in this situation it seems prudent."

Kefka cried out, slamming a magical blast into the place where Tom Nook had just been, not moving fast enough to strike before Nook was teleported out of harm's way.

Marcus wondered if he should follow Nook's lead and surrender. He had already gotten second, enough to move on to the next round. The alternative was facing Kefka alone. Not an idea that appealed to him. But before he could get a word out, Kefka whirled around to face him, his facial expression one of rage.

"You! This is all YOUR FAULT!"

Marcus hesitated. "My fault? How is it m-" he was cut off by Kefka releasing a wave of magical energy at him, engulfing him before he could finish his sentence, let alone surrender.

The audience looked at HK-47, expecting him to announce the end of the match. He was silent. Finally, he noticed that everyone was staring at him, and spoke up. "Statement: The match is not over, meatbags. Pay closer attention."

Kefka, who had been laughing (again), didn't even notice that was the dust cleared, Marcus didn't have a scratch on him. The smart thing to do then would have been to take the advantage of Kefka's inattentiveness and blast him, but Marcus was too stunned to move. He hadn't even felt that blast, let alone been vaporized by it like he should have.

Kefka eventually noticed Marcus, and his laughter slowly petered out. He was silent for a few seconds before becoming even more enraged than before, an aura of magic surrounding him as it had done before.

"WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD YET!?"

Kefka fired a lightning bolt at Marcus. Nothing. Fireball, nothing, explosion, nothing. Finally he screamed, floating upwards into the air, gathering as much power as he could. Then Marcus pulled out his assault rifle and started firing it at Kefka. Kefka, too busy and angry to notice or bother dodging if he did notice, was struck directly in the chest, arms, and legs by a barrage of bullets. His magic aura disappeared, and he fell down, being teleported out of the arena right before he hit the ground below.

Although he had been startled out of his daze enough to counterattack, Marcus was still confused. Why had nothing Kefka thrown at him worked?

Then he noticed that his chest felt very hot. None of the magic spells had even been felt by him, but for some reason his chest was burning. He tentatively touched the spot, feeling something hard. The amulet. It had never done anything before now. Before magic had been used against him.

Whoever his mysterious benefactor was, he would have to thank him. Until then he would continue wondering why someone would give away something as valuable as this.

"Observation: Marcus Fenix has won the match. Kefka, getting second, will also move on. I no longer have to do this. Now, where exactly is Duke Nukem, meatbags?"

---

**Aftermath**

"NO NO NO!" The various nurses and doctors in the infirmary were struggling to hold down Kefka, who was thrashing around like a child in a tantrum. "I don't even get to kill that raccoon, and then I lose? IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"Please, Kefka, if you don't stop moving around, we won't be able to treat your wounds! You'll bleed to death!"

But Kefka didn't stop screaming and wriggling. Doctor Stiles had to administer a sedative to calm Kefka down, and even then he muttered and moved around a bit in his sleep.

Tom Nook, who had been watching the entire thing from out of Kefka's sight, smiled and laughed a bit. He hadn't needed any treatment at all. It had been a wise decision to back out when he had.

By KamikazePotato


	65. Swords of the Patriots

**Swords of the Patriots**

Cloud sat at the bar next to Solid Snake. They were the only two there, Tifa and Dan had left at Snake's request. Solid Snake had needed to talk to him alone, and this was the only place they could do it. Cloud was pretty sure what this was about- Revolver Ocelot. After the match had appeared on the bracket, Solid Snake had been watching him. And it certainly wasn't because of Jill Valentine or the Midgar Zolom. Revolver Ocelot had to be the reason that Solid Snake approached him earlier. What other reason could there be? Snake must've not believed that Cloud had the ability to take on Ocelot. But Cloud considered him wrong. Ocelot was an old man, and surely he had talent with guns. He may have even been the best gunslinger in the entire tournament. But Cloud was ready for anything in this tournament. Even someone like Ocelot. As a soldier, Cloud was surprised Snake had little faith in him. But he'd let his fighting do the talking instead of his words. That was the best way to send the message.

"So what did you call me here for?" Cloud asked.

Snake took a sip of his liquor. It was some of the hardest stuff he'd ever drank. Kanakanian Liquor recommended by Georg Prime. It was good stuff. Better than anything he had ever drank before. Snake wasn't entirely sure how to approach Cloud about his match. He would've approached Jill, but she at least had a gun. Cloud? He fought with a sword. Snake felt it was his duty to warn Cloud about Ocelot. But he wasn't drinking because he wasn't sure what to say. He was drinking because he wanted to share a drink with a fellow soldier.

"I wanted to warn you about Ocelot" Snake said. "He's very dangerous".

"I can handle him" Cloud said with confidence, as he sipped his own liquor.

Snake didn't like the sound of that. Was Cloud being overconfident? That was a downfall for anyone who considered themselves a warrior. Rule Number One of battle was to never underestimate your opponent. It's better to overestimate them, than to underestimate them. At least then you'll be prepared for anything they might have. That lead into rule number two, you can never be too prepared.

"I'm more powerful than you think" Cloud told him. "I know what Ocelot is capable of"

"And yet you still insist fighting with a sword"

"Don't knock it until you've seen it" Cloud said.

"If you want a gun, I've got one that you can borrow" Snake said. "You know how to use one right?"

Of course Cloud knew how to use a gun. He was a Shinra guard at one time, he was required to know how to use one. But those days were long past, as were the days of playing SOLDIER. He had created a new identity for himself. He was no longer Cloud the SOLDIER, Cloud the mercenary, Cloud the Puppet, or Cloud the fake. He was just Cloud now. And this Cloud didn't fight with a gun.

"Of course I know how to." Cloud explained. "I just don't want one"

"Suit yourself then"

Snake gave up. There was no reasoning with Cloud. He had done his part to warn him about Ocelot. Beyond that, it was out of his hands. He couldn't force Cloud to use a gun. There was nothing else he could do. The two contestants sat at the bar drinking the rest of their liquor in silence. Neither of them spoke another word. For Snake, there was no use. For Cloud, there was nothing to say.

Back at the castle, everything was mostly quiet. Everybody was either at the arena trying to get a good seat for the next match, or in Lucretia's bend wasting time. Jill Valentine was one of the few who were in the castle. She was headed back towards the Nintendo Common Room to pick up some supplies for the match. She couldn't afford to forget anything. She didn't want to be an embarrassment to S.T.A.R.S. As she was about to enter the Common Room, she was stopped by someones hand on her shoulder. Leon? Chris? Ada? No. None of those. This touch wasn't familiar. It was almost malevolent, but not entirely so. She turned around to see who it was. Revolver Ocelot.

"Jill Valentine" he said with a smirk on his face. "I have a proposal for you"

"Forget it Ocelot" Jill said.

"Maybe you should hear it before you say no"

"Whatever you have to say..."

"Why don't we team up?" He suggested. "We're the only two with guns in this match, I figure we should be able to win it easily if we team up. After all, first and second place both advance"

He was right. Two people did advance. And they were the only ones to use guns. Cloud used a sword, and god only knew what the Zolom would use. But was it safe to team up with him? He wasn't in Sony house though. So maybe he could be trusted? Jill wasn't very sure though. But what harm could it do? He shouldn't have much time to betray her. Not to mention that if they both advance, she'd be targeting him specifically from the get go.

"Think about it. Our alliance could get us pretty far. Next round we just have that clown, and Marcus to deal with. We'll have made our way through half of the tournament. At that point, if our alliance isn't in your interest anymore, then we'll break it off just like that."

The deal was very tempting. Too tempting. Something wasn't right about it. Why was Ocelot offering her this deal? From what she had heard he was one hell of a gunslinger. But she realized that if she took it, she could at least have him off her back for a little while. Theres no way that he'd betray her before he had the chance to take first place. She'd still get to advance one way or another.

"What about you?" she asked. "What if you decide to break our deal before then?"

"I have no allies here" he explained. "nobody here wants to work with ol' Ocelot"

He did have a point. The people from his world considered him an enemy. It'd be in his best interest to find an ally, and fast. The deal just became all the more tempting. What harm would it do to take it? She'd be able to see it coming if he was going to betray her. She'd have enough time to react. She was a special agent trained to deal with such situations. She had dealt with Zombies before. What harm could an alliance be?

"Fine." She said. "But if you betray me, I won't hesitate to kill you"

Ocelot smiled. "Fine by me"

**The Match**

Everyone was seated, ready to watch the next match. Solid Snake was watching very closely. Could Cloud really handle Ocelot? He was about to find out. Each of the contestants were waiting for the announcer of the day to start the match. Georg Prime was the announcer for this morning. And he wasn't a man of many words. He looked at all the contestants.

"Cloud Strife versus Jill Valentine versus Midgar Zolom versus Revolver Ocelot" he said. "Begin"

Cloud wasted no time in making his way over the the Midgar Zolom. He briefly remembered what Sephiroth was able to do to the giant snake. The Zolom bent over to attack Cloud, but Cloud dodged out of the way. He then clasped on to his sword, and struck the Zolom's left side, then jumped over to his right side and struck that side. He then jumped in the air, and slashed the Zolom's head. The Zolom fell over.

"Aww, and I didn't get to use Beta" Zolom said, as he passed out.

"Midgar Zolom is no longer able to fight" Georg said, and the Zoloms body was transported back to the clinic.

Cloud turned around to face his next opponents. Jill and Ocelot had apparently teamed up. His defeat of Zolom impressed most of the crowd. Nobody had been taken out so easily so far. Snake wondered what Cloud's strategy would be. Would he use magic to turn this into a battle of range? Or...

"Let's go, Ms. Valentine" Ocelot said.

The two quickly emptied their guns towards Cloud, and most of the gunfighters in the arena had felt that this would now be the shortest match in the tournament. But instead of getting hit by all of the bullets that were making their way towards him, Cloud leapt in the air above them. All of the bullets missed, and the match would continue, much to Jill and Ocelot's disappointment.

"That's okay" Ocelot said. "I like reloading"

The two started reloading quickly, and began firing upon Cloud again. This time he deflected the bullets with his sword. He then seemingly flew over towards Ocelot, and knocked him into the air. He jumped up high enough, and hit him with his sword once again. Before Jill could get her gun totally reloaded, he knocked her to the ground with his sword. Ocelot and Jill both got back up, and fired their guns with an increasing angle to leave little room for Cloud to dodge them. But Cloud used each of those bullets as a step, and climbed higher into the air with precision timing. Once he reached the top he lunged towards Jill, and his blade went into her left side. He quickly pulled it out, in time to knock Ocelot, who was charging towards him, over. Cloud stuck his sword into Ocelot's chest, and then pulled it out quickly to knock over Jill. Cloud did a back flip and left Jill and Ocelot facing each other. Snake had been impressed by Cloud's performance so far. Could he keep it up? It was almost mind bogging. He hadn't even used any magic yet. Cloud swung his sword at Jill, knocked her over, and then at Ocelot, knocking him over. He then ran towards the other side of the stadium. Ocelot reloaded his weapon faster than he ever had in his life, and fired at Cloud. Cloud swatted the bullets away with his sword, and then plunged towards Ocelot, cutting into his rib cage. Cloud pulled his sword out, and knocked the bullets Jill was firing at him away. He turned around to knock Ocelot over before he could reload, then plunged towards Jill in the same way. Cloud ripped his sword out of her torso, and flipped over her to kick her to the ground.

Ocelot had time to fire at him again, but Cloud used his sword as a shield. He charged towards Ocelot at tremendous speed, and knocked him down before he could finish reloading. Cloud struck the old man twice, before going back to the girl. She was struggling to get up. Was this the end of Jill Valentine?

Jill's legs felt numb. Her amrs felt heavy. Her heart was pounding fast. But she wasn't done yet. Far from it. She struggled to reach for her gun. Just a little bit further... "Why doesn't Cloud just end it now..." She wondered to herself. He could've easily struck her down now. Her thoughts then went to Leon and Chris. She remembered how important his was to them. That was the extra boost she needed. She grabbed her gun, and fired it at Cloud, who had been charging at her for what seemed like an hour, but had really only been a couple of seconds. One, two, three, four, five, six bullets. All of them headed straight towards Cloud. He wasn't jumping into the air.. was this finally what would beat him? No... his eyes were calm as ever. It seemed like an eternity before she could hear him utter a single word. "Ice 3"

In an instant, the bullets all froze and fell straight to the ground. Jill struggled to reload her weapon, but by the time she had put a a single bullet in a chamber, Cloud was standing before her. He hit her arm, and knocked her gun out of her hand. It was now out of reach. She'd have to reformulate her plan. But where was Ocelot? On the ground still no doubt. He was an old man after all. There wasn't a whole lot he could do after an attack like that. If she was having trouble getting up, he was having even more trouble.

Ocelot in fact WAS having more trouble than Jill. If the Patriots had influence here.. he might've been able to get through this match without a scratch. But no, he had to rely on his ability. He had a lot of ability. But he was still an old man. His chest was hurting him. His arms felt like they had been broken a hundred times. He was a soldier, but he was still old. Nothing would change that. But he was still enjoying the challenge. He'd counted Cloud out of the match entirely from the beginning. But so had just about anybody else who fought with a gun. Cloud was put into square for a reason, the same house as The Boss. Ocelot wasn't sure why he had underestimated him. But he wouldn't do it again. He finally managed to stand up. He fought through the pain as much as he possibly could.

Jill was still on the ground. But Cloud had noticed Ocelot was now standing up. He turned around to face him. Jill was young, but had a small body. It couldn't take the abuse Ocelot's body could. He had to give her time to stand up. How long would she need? A minute? Two? Whatever it was, it was Ocelot's job to give it to her. So he had to draw Cloud to him. He couldn't shoot at him. No, Cloud would just freeze the bullets, or block them. Or maybe he'd jump over them. It wasn't something you saw very often in Ocelot's world. In the movies? Maybe. In real life? Not as likely. So instead, he'd have to convince Cloud to get closer to him.

"Feeling lucky, Cloud?"

"Not particularly"

"Well why don't you come after me? Pick on someone your own size"

The Taunt had worked. It was such a simple ploy. But was it for the best? Cloud dashed towards Ocelot, who began running away. But he wasn't fast enough. He reloaded as he ran, but even that wasn't enough. Cloud knocked him back down, as Jill stood up. She began firing at him. But he deflected the bullets with his sword again. They hadn't even gotten so much as a scratch on him yet. But he had gotten plenty on them. Ocelot jumped up and kicked at Cloud, but missed. Cloud swung around, and knocked Ocelot back down.

"Get behind me" Ocelot yelled at Jill.

Jill carefully walked around the stadium, trying not to get hit by Cloud again. She made her way behind Ocelot, and focused her gun on Cloud. Ocelot focused his own gun on Cloud. The three were almost at a standstill for a couple of seconds. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Nothing happened. The arena was filled with silence. What had one time been considered a possibility for the shortest match in the tournament so far, was now one that had lasted a pretty long time. But was that because Cloud had been on the defensive the entire time? And if so, was it because Cloud was only lasting because of his defensive abilities, or because Cloud could've taken Jill and Ocelot both out quickly. The way he took Zolom out suggested the latter of the two.

"It's time to get serious" Ocelot said.

"Good. Time I got serious too" Cloud said.

Cloud held his blade towards Jill and Ocelot. Jill and Ocelot held their guns towards Cloud. "On the count of three" Ocelot said. "One.. two..." Before he reached three, the gun in his left hand twirled around to face Jill, and fired a bullet into her torso.

"Sorry Jill. There's only room for one more" Ocelot announced.

Jill fell over. She was no longer able to fight. Taken out by Ocelot. That traitor! She'd get even with him if it were all possible. But for now, there was nothing that she could do. She was out of it. She couldn't advance now. There was no way.

"Jill Valentine is out!" Georg Prime announced.

Cloud rushed over towards Ocelot, and cut into his left arm. He nearly cut it off. The match was quickly declared over before Cloud could cut his entire arm off. Ocelot and Jill were teleported to the clinic, and the match was over. Cloud had won, despite his many doubters. Solid Snake was among those impressed at his abilities today. And the fact that he had held back for most of the match... made Snake wonder just how far Cloud would go.

Post Match

Ocelot was in a hospital bed. Jill was next to him, almost the last person he wanted to see. He almost felt bad about betraying her. Almost. But there was no other choice. Cloud wasn't going to go down. Surely she realized that? No. He doubts she understood. She seemed like the type that wouldn't accept a betrayal very well. And he was right. Over in the corner, all of the nurses were attending to the Midgar Zolom. Dr. Stiles however was standing next to him.

"Your arm..." he said.

"Don't do anything crazy to it" Ocelot said.

Dr. Stiles laughed. "I was just going to say, it's healing quite well"

"How long will it be out of commission?" Ocelot asked.

"Couple of hours I guess" the doctor replied.

That was fast. He had expected to hear six weeks. But was pleasantly surprised at the doctors here. Magic was quite a wondrous thing. And Dr. Stiles was a very good doctor. The best Ocelot had ever seen. Within a few hours he would be all better.

Later that evening...

Jill Valentine was taking a nice relaxing shower. She had to wash the feeling of defeat off of her. She lathered up her shoulder, and let the water pour over her. It felt good. Almost too good. Her wounds had all been healed thanks to the nice doctor and nurses here. She thought that she shouldn't be feeling as good as she was at this moment. She had lost. She didn't deserve to feel good. She lathered up the rest of her body, trying to scrub the stench of defeat off of her. The suds all washed away, as she heard someone walk into the bathroom. The only other girl in Nintendo house was Midna... but she never took a shower. Then... who was it? She turned around, and shrieked.

"You're not supposed to be in here Chris"

Chris blushed at seeing Jill naked. "Sorry Jill. I just wanted to tell you that you did your best"

"Couldn't it have waited?" Jill asked while making little attempt to cover herself up.

Chris was staring at her. He couldn't help himself. She looked good. Damn good. Especially for a girl who almost got the crap kicked out of her earlier. She had a very nice body. The water had already washed all of the suds off of her.

"Stop staring!" She said.

"Sorry" Chris said. But damn she was hot. Chris averted his eyes against his wishes. "I just wanted you to know that I thought you did really good. Neither Leon or I could've done much better"

"Thanks..." She said.

"For what?" Chris asked.

"Trying to make me feel better." Jill said, as she wrapped a towel around her. "You can look up again"

Seeing Jill covered was disappointing, but she was still very beautiful. Chris nodded at her. "I'm not trying to make you feel better. It's just the truth"

Jill laughed. "I guess we'll just see about that"

Meanwhile, Cloud was walking back towards the Nintendo commons room. Everyone had been impressed with his abilities today. Solid Snake had complimented him on it earlier at the bar. He was prepared to fight his hardest in this tournament. If he was killed, nobody could stop Sephiroth. And while few competitors had been killed so far, it had happened before. Cloud couldn't take the risk. But he couldn't just give up in the tournament either. He had to keep on his feet.

"Cloud" a familiar voice said.

He turned around. Sephiroth.

"What do you want?" Cloud asked.

"Good job today" Sephiroth said. "But beware of the clown next round".

"I can handle myself" Cloud said.

"Marcus survived only because he had an amulet that protected him from magic."

"And why are you warning me about this?" Cloud asked.

"Wouldn't want to see anyone get hurt" Sephiroth said, and smiled wickedly.

Sephiroth left him as quickly as he had approached him. Why was Sephiroth warning him about Kefka? What purpose did it serve? It'd be a long time before he could find out. With each match, it would come closer to that day though. Was Sephiroth using Kefka? No... he was insane. Nobody could control that maniac. But Cloud still had to wonder. Why?

By Cloud and Squall


	66. Welcome to Silent Hill

**Welcome to Silent Hill**

Sony house watched the names appearing on the bracket, as if they were being written by the hand of a ghost. Most of them were watching to see if their name would appear. The rest, the ones who had already lost, were merely curious, and didn't really care who appeared.

As the first name started to materialize, they all heard a low groan behind them, followed by the sound of screeching metal. Pyramid Head, after having not moved from his corner from days on end, had started to lurch forward. He allowed his butcher's knife to scrape along the floor, methodically plodding forward as if he had all the time in the world. The rest of Sony house held their breath, and then collectively let it out when Pyramid Head left the room.

Then they remembered the bracket, which was undoubtedly filled out by now. As they looked back at it, not one of them was surprised to see that Pyramid Head's name on it, and that he had known it was there before it had even appeared on the bracket.

---

"Good luck, Chris." Jill and Chris had just found out that his match was today, and he made to make preparations. "If we both lose back to back, it won't look very good for our world." Chris just smiled, making sure all of his guns were loaded.

"Don't worry about it, Jill. I doubt any of these people have faced anything like what we've had to face." Jill sighed, shaking her head. "That's what I thought…", she began, "And then Cloud, who doesn't even use a gun, beat both me and Ocelot at the same time. I'm just saying, be careful." Jill explained.

Chris shrugged. "Well, what competition is there? That Pyramid Head thing…I've never even seen him, but from what I've heard he's closer to one of the zombies back home than to a human. If so, I should put him away easily. Auron doesn't seem like the type to go flipping and jumping around in the air like a maniac, like what Cloud did. And Shadow…isn't he an animal? What could he do?"

Jill nodded, but inside she was groaning. Chris was making the exact same mistake she did. She had underestimated Cloud's power, and Ocelot's deceptiveness, and it had cost her. If Chris went into the battle with an arrogant attitude, he wasn't going to do very well.

**Match**

"Alright everyone! This match is going to be so super exciting!"

No one was quite sure why Rikku had been picked as the announcer. All that was certain was that Tom Nook had just made a killing on earplugs.

"Kay then! First we have Auron – ooh, he's strong – then Chris Redfield – he looks strong too! I think! – Pyramid Head – spooky – and Shadow – he looks like Sonic!"

HK-47 accessed his internal CPU, cutting off power to his ears.

"Alright then! Everyone looks set? Okay then! Let's get started! Go, people!"

…

…

"I said go, people!"

Shadow, Auron, Chris, and Pyramid Head stood still, not moving at all, doing nothing but look at each other.

"Um…okay? What's this? Did I get something wrong? Oh! I get it! It's a staring contest! Ooh, I think someone's going to blink!"

---

Auron, Shadow, and Chris were standing in the middle of a street of a town. The houses seemed like something out of those old neighborhoods; all of them looked almost exactly alike. The street stretched on, leaving few unique markings, giving off a sense of directionlessness. It didn't help that a thick fog covered the ground, lessening visibility to about 30 feet in front of you.

"Where are we? What happened?" Shadow yelled. He looked around, searching for someone to blame for the situation. Finding no one, he turned to Chris. "What did you do?" Chris ignored Shadow, carefully glancing at every nook and cranny he could see, watching for anything moving in the shadows.

"Me? Not the right guy, Shadow." He peered into the windows, seeing that every single one had the blinds closed, with the lights turned off inside. "I've gotten this feeling before…this place might have zombies lurking around here." Shadow stomped his foot on the ground, growling. "Zombies? What are you talking about?"

"Silence." Auron spoke with such authority that the other two obeyed him instantly. "Listen." He whispered. They did. They listened for the sounds of people moving, of birds chirping, of the wind rustling through leaves, of anything. They heard…

"Nothing." Chris said in a low voice. It was a ghost town. The silence had obliterated all life and replaced it with nothing but fog.

"We should examine one of these houses. Even if no one is in there, there may be a map of this place, or a clue as to why everyone is gone." Auron commanded. Shadow hesitantly nodded. Chris nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. He was still watching everywhere, expecting something to pop out at them at any second.

They warily approached the nearest house, following Chris' lead. He seemed to be the expert in these sorts of situations. Chris reached the door, and slowly turned the knob. It was locked. He tried it again and again, but it wouldn't open. Chris leaned down and peered at the lock and saw that it was not only locked, but broken to the point where even the proper key probably wouldn't open the door.

"Darn. If only Jill were here, she'd have better luck with this than me." He said, mumbling to himself. "What?" Auron asked. Chris shook his head. "Nothing, just talking to myself…yeah, we are definitely not getting through this door. Let's try a different one."

They tried the next house. And the next. And the next. Every single one's lock was destroyed, with no hope of getting through the door. Until…

"Yes!" Chris smiled, staring at the lock. Shadow stepped forward impatiently, craning his head for a better look. "Is this one open?" he asked. Chris shook his head, still smiling. "No. But the lock isn't broken! Now all we need to do is find the key to this door and we can open it!"

Shadow was silent for a few second, and then pushed Chris away, pulling out his gun. "Damnit, I've had enough of this!" He aimed the gun at the lock. "No, wait!" Auron cried out. He swung his sword forward, hitting Shadow with the blunt edge of it and knocking him away just as the gun fired. The bullet hit the door and ricocheted off, blasting through the space where Shadow had been a moment ago.

Auron stood over Shadow, who was stunned. Auron stared at Shadow with a penetrating gaze. "This is not a normal town. Act rashly and you'll find yourself dead." He turned around and started walking back into the street. "Let's explore other parts of the town." he said. "We aren't making any progress here."

Unfortunately, the rest of the town was just as lifeless. They walked through each street, trying to get into various buildings, with no luck. Eventually their search lead them to the lake, where they finally found someone.

He was sitting by the lake, staring out onto its surface. He was wearing a light gray undershirt, a green jacket, and had dirty blond hair. Far more interesting was the fact that he was completely waterlogged. It dripped off of his hair and clothes, pooling around him, but he didn't seem to notice.

He turned around, his eyes dull. "So you're here too?" He stood up, brushing water off himself. He didn't seem to get any drier. "Well, might as well help you out." He reached into his jacket and pulled out two items: a radio and a thick piece of paper he had folded into a square. Chris took them both, glancing at the radio with interest.

"Don't bother trying the radio. It doesn't work. Keep it on, though. It just might save your life." The man turned his head towards the lake, speaking without looking back at Auron, Chris, and Shadow. "Most importantly, though…don't give up."

He started walking into the lake. He walked much farther than he should've been able to without floating, until his head dipped beneath the surface.

All three were silent, until Chris gave a small, surprised gasp. "The piece of paper and the radio. They aren't wet at all."

Suddenly all the scenery around them flashed and they all had a fleeting vision of a car plunging beneath the lake, a man in a green jacket driving it.

Then everything was normal again, or at least as normal as the place could be.

Auron cleared his throat. "Chris. Open up the paper." Chris, still in a bit of a daze, nodded and slowly opened the paper. It was a map of the town, something they sorely needed. It had names for every shop and street. Chris had only looked at it for a few second before he noticed that one of the names was circled in red. The other two peered over Chris' shoulder, staring at the marking. It seemed to be an apartment complex of some kind.

And above it, also written in red letters, were the words "Welcome to Silent Hill."

"Well, then." Auron said. "I think we know where we need to go."

Surprisingly, the door to the apartment complex was unlocked. The door was even open slightly, beckoning them to enter. They did, slowly walking in, searching around for anything of interest. It was like any normal apartment complex, only with less light. And no sounds at all.

Of course, all the doors they checked were locked or had their locks broken. There was nothing to do but search every place possible.

Until one moment when Chris started to hear a strange sound. It grew louder, until he realized the radio he had clipped on to his chest was emitting white noise. Terror welled up inside him, and he whirled around to see the abomination that had somehow gotten so close to him.

So, there were zombies after all, he thought as he shot the thing in the face. It fell to the ground, writhing and jerking around. A second later, more started to appear out of the darkness, lurching toward them. Much more.

Chris and Shadow fired into the zombies, killing many of them. It was no use, however; they just kept coming. It didn't help that Auron was doing nothing; he just stood there and looked around.

"What's wrong?" Auron yelled over the blaze of gunfire. Chris sputtered, exasperated. "Are you blind?" One of the zombies had gotten too close to him. He aimed the gun directly at the head, lining up a perfect shot. Then froze.

Despite the rotted skin and lumbering walk, despite the inhuman moan, as the zombie drew closer he noticed things he hadn't noticed before. It looked like Claire. It had the same clothes, and the form vaguely looked like her. It struck a chord deep within Chris. It had always been his greatest fear that his loved ones would be infected with one of Umbrella's viruses and be turned into zombies. And that he would have to be the one to end their misery.

Looking more closely, all the zombies looked like his dearest friends. Claire, Jill, even Barry. He was transfixed by the sight so much that he didn't even notice that the nearest Claire zombie was almost upon him. He snapped out of it just in time, but couldn't bring himself to fire.

Claire gave one final lurch, practically falling onto Chris, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace. He thought he could hear her sobbing. He couldn't do anything, only listen as it whispered into his ear.

_"Why didn't you save me?"_

Chris screamed as the Claire zombie bit into his neck, screamed more from the message than the wound. He aimed his pistol again, this time firing many more shots than necessary into the monstrosity. Almost on cue, the rest of the zombies started calling out to him.

_"It's your fault."_

"Kill me. Please. Kill me."

"Why didn't you save me?"

"No one left but you."

"It hurts. It hurts so much."

He couldn't take it. Chris turned around, running down the hallway, opening a random door (which, coincidentally, had been locked before) and flinging himself into the room.

Shadow shot the zombies, keeping them at bay. Why wasn't that dumbass Auron doing anything? He just kept looking around and asking them what they were shooting at. It didn't matter much, though; he and Chris seemed to be keeping the zombies away.

Which is what he thought. He wasn't actually paying attention to anyone but himself, so when Chris screamed out and ran away he was surprised. Shadow turned around, yelling after Chris, but he didn't seem to hear him. Shadow heard a sound behind him, and whirled around to shoot the zombie. Then froze.

It was Maria. Her skin was mottled and decayed, but he would never forget her face. Ever. He stood there, not knowing what to do, when suddenly the zombie laughed, and started to speak in a very clear and humanlike voice.

"Oh, Shadow. You really are pathetic. You've had how many chances to fulfill my last wishes? And you blew them all. You're just a loser."

It…she…smiled.

"You know what I think? I think I wasted my time on you, you incompetent animal. I don't think you deserve me. Goodbye, Shadow the second-rate hedgehog."

Maria continued laughing even as she dissolved, her body melting away and congealing into a large puddle on the floor. Shadow cried out in anguish, unable to do anything to help her. Then he noticed the other zombies. They all looked like Maria, and they were all laughing at him. He rushed to the next one, but she dissolved too. Even with his speed, each one he caught up to was a grotesque puddle by the time he reached them. Shadow became more and more frantic, running around as fast as he ever had. He had to save them. He had to.

Auron watched as the two lost their minds, shooting into thin air, then screaming and running off. For once he didn't know what to do. He could help people through hard times, but it was hard to help them when they had lost their minds and just gone running off in the opposite direction of each other and himself.

Although, he had seen Chris' neck start bleeding. And he hadn't seen anything that could have made the wound. Maybe they weren't crazy after all?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal scraping along the floor. Out of the darkness, Pyramid Head slowly walked toward him, gazing at him through the strange mask on his head.

"You." Auron said. "You're causing this, aren't you?" Pyramid Head's only response was to yell in a low, inhuman voice, and swing his butcher's knife directly at Auron's head.

Chris slammed the door behind him, hearing the click of the lock when it closed. He didn't care; he had escape from his horrific visions. He would be safe here.

Then he turned around and saw that the entire other wall of the room was a mirror. Chris saw himself reflected in it, and slowly walked forward, staring at himself intently. Was it just a normal mirror?

Then Claire appeared. Not in the room, but in the room inside the mirror. And she wasn't a zombie; she was completely normal. She walked toward the other Chris, who turned to look at her with an impassive expression. "Chris…" she gently called out. The mirror Chris smirked, then raised his gun and shot Claire cleanly through the forehead. Claire fell down without another word.

"NO!"

Then Jill appeared, walking towards mirror Chris, looking almost pleading. She too was a normal human. Apparently this didn't matter to mirror Chris, as he shot her in the feet, smiling even wider as she cried out in pain and sank to one knee. He shot out her other leg, then finally let out a laugh as he plugged her in the chest.

Then the mirror Chris turned to face the real Chris, and his skin began to change. It rotted and decayed, changing into the form of a zombie. When his transformation was complete, he stepped through the mirror, drawing closer to Chris.

"You don't think this is what you'll end up being? You have to kill so much in your line of work. Oh, you think you do it just because you have to, but we both know sooner or later you'll end up enjoying it. Then you'll slowly become everything you ever hated. You'll kill you loved ones. You'll be completely alone. And finally, eventually, you'll become just like the zombies you worked so hard to fight. You can't avoid it, Chris. This is who are you."

Mirror Chris walked towards the real Chris. "Now I'll show you all the horrors you so truly deserve."

Auron parried a blow from Pyramid Head, quickly countering with a diagonal slash from Pyramid Head's shoulder to waist. It didn't do anything. Pyramid Head just roared louder, this time almost connecting with a blow to Auron. Auron managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, but the thick butcher's knife still made a small but deep cut in his shoulder.

Nothing seemed to work. Every hit Auron landed on Pyramid Head just glanced right off of him, barely slowing him down for a second. It was almost as if he was impervious to physical damage. Would magic work? He didn't know, and it didn't really matter, as he couldn't use magic, and he was pretty sure Chris and Shadow couldn't either.

Chris. Shadow. Thinking of them, he realized that the screaming had stopped. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Why had they gone running off, anyway? What had they seen? It was almost like they had seen their deepest, darkest fears come to life…

Auron stepped back, raised his sword, and plunged it into the floor. Pyramid Head hesitated, confused.

"Release them." Auron commanded. "You may have dredged up their fears and set them against them, but you cannot do the same to me. You have no real power over me. Now, release them!"

Pyramid Head froze, unmoving. Finally, he inclined his head a bit, something that could have almost been a nod.

---

"Alrighty… they're still staring at each other…none of them have blinked yet…I'm bored. Anyone know any good songs? We could do some karaoke or-wait! Something happened!"

Chris Redfield, who been perfectly still a minute ago suddenly feel to the ground. He was sobbing and shivering while curled up in a half-fettle position, and a wound on his neck had appeared out of nowhere.

Shadow had start running, running much faster than was safe when you obviously weren't paying attention to where you were going. He crashed into the wall of the arena, causing him to lose his focus for a bit. He shook himself out of it, and kept looking around. "What? What happened?" he yelled.

Auron just looked at Pyramid Head and nodded, as if something had been accomplished. His look of assurance disappeared when he saw the broken man that had once been Chris. He grimaced, like he felt responsible for what had happened.

"Um…I think that guy's not going to be doing any fighting for a while. Right? Okay then! Chris Redfield gets fourth!"

As Chris was teleported into the infirmary, Pyramid Head let out a loud roar that got everyone's attention. He hefted his spear – which moments ago had been a butcher's knife – and placed the dull edge of it on the ground. His work done, he proceeded to impale himself on the tip of the spear. His body slumped forward, unmoving.

"Yeah, I think he's out of the running too! Spooky Head gets third!"

Auron looked at Shadow. They were the only two left. Would he continue the fight to get first?

Apparently not. Shadow ran out of the arena, running away from something he would like to forget.

"…O-kay then. Auron wins, I guess. Who's up for some karaoke?"

**Aftermath**

Jill sat by Chris' bedside, looking at him as the sedatives the doctors had given him made him sleep. He had been in an awful condition when he had arrived: mentally broken, unable to utter more than a few words before whatever memories he was trying to forget sprung up again and reduced him to a shivering wreck. He also bleeding out of his neck, something he didn't even seem to notice. The wound wasn't terrible, but he had lost enough blood to make it a big concern for the doctors. He'd live, but he'd have to stay in bed for a few days.

And all of this had happened in an instant, or so it seemed to them. What had happened out there?

---

Long after the match had ended, and all of the patients for the day were taken care of, the doctors finally decided that the task of disposing of the body had to be done. No one liked to do it, especially when the body was so strange and grotesque, but it was a necessary procedure.

But when they went to retrieve the body, they discovered that Pyramid Head had vanished.

By KamikazePotato


	67. World Warrior

**World Warrior**

Ryu was in one of the preparation rooms, deep in meditation. The upcoming battle would be different from what he was used to; he had never truly fought in a free for all up to this point, and he had no idea what to expect from the strange psychic who was among his rivals this match. However, there was a sense of uneasiness stirring inside of him, one he had felt before his first match with Sagat. Opening his eyes, he saw the grinning visage of Akuma standing in the door of the room.

Akuma, after being acknowledged, spoke, "Well, well, boy. Your first match of the tournament, and, despite your opponents' strange shapes, they seem to be mostly capable fighters."

Ryu closed his eyes again, trying to regain his concentration. When that failed, he asked, "Why are you here, Akuma? This is not your match, and I doubt you're here to support me."

The elder martial artist snickered, "Actually, I am. You see, you are the only one who can give me a true challenge here, Ryu. The others? They all use weapons and magic in combat; they cannot defend themselves on their own power. But you…you, Ryu, have taken Ansatsuken farther than I could have imagined without mastering the Satsui no Hadou. However…while they may not fight honorably, your opponents today are still deadly nonetheless, especially the psychic."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Simple. I want to fight you in this tournament, Ryu, and I can't do that if you lose today. That is why I've come to give you aid."

Ryu cast Akuma a suspicious gaze. "You and I both know that outside interference is prohibited in these matches, Akuma. And you know I would not accept your help either."

The ogre of a man simply shook his head in amusement. "Not physical aid, boy. Advice. There is only one way to prevent the psychic from knowing what moves you will make, and that is-"

"The Satsui no Hadou. I'm well aware, Akuma, but I will not use it, in this match or any other match. That power is without honor."

Akuma snorted, growing tired of Ryu's refusal. "Very well, boy. If you wish to lose, you may do so. I am not your master."

As Akuma left the room, Ryu sighed to himself; was there a way he could prevail against the psychic without giving into the dark power that let him beat Sagat in the first tournament?

While Ryu tried to search his brain for answers, he failed to notice the dark form of Ganondorf outside of his room. The wielder of the Triforce of Power smiled to himself as he made his way to the spectator's area; perhaps this match would be interesting after all…

**Match**

The arena was filled with an unnatural stillness. The four warriors stood at the corners of the fighting area, waiting for the match to begin…as they had for the past thirty minutes. The reason for the hold-up was relatively simple; most of the men in the crowd, and even some women, were distracted by the supple form of the castle's Runemistress, Jeane. Even Bowser, who was about to fight in the very match itself, was sending catcalls and promises to "kidnap" Jeane towards the announcer's booth.

As if awakened by Bowser's lewdness, Jeane looked up from her book and seemed to realize where she was. "Oh, dear, the match was supposed to start, wasn't it…Well, I do hope you can all forgive me for holding you up, tee hee!" In that moment, as Jeane stood up in the announcer's booth, there was not a man in the world who would hold the delay against her. Looking down on the battlefield, the Runemistress began, "In the Red Corner, we have the warrior Ryu, a nice big strong man who I wouldn't mind taking lessons from.. Who knows, maybe I can teach him a thing or two?"

The sound of Jeane's trademark giggle tested every ounce of inner strength in Ryu's body as never before.

"In the Blue Corner, we have Mewtwo, the genetic Pokémon. In the Yellow Korner, we have the King of all Koopas, Bowser. And last, but not least, Toad of the Green Corner. Who will triumph in this test of might? The very thought gives me goosebumps, tee hee!"

"If you all are ready, you can begin, tee hee!"

The atmosphere of the arena changed immediately, with most of the attention shifting from Jeane to the battle. Immediately, Bowser charged at Toad, almost running the small humanoid over as Ryu moved to intercept him. As for Mewtwo, the creature seemed content to sit back, watching the battle unfold before him.

Bowser reached out with his hand to grab the terrified Toad, fully intent on using the weaker creature as a meatshield to protect him from the other combatants' attacks. However, just as he was about to snatch Toad, a fireball knocked him off-course and caused the Koopa King to land face-first in the ground, sliding a short ways away. Ryu, standing behind the Koopa King, prepared another Hadoken to make sure Bowser wouldn't try such an under-handed trick again. But instead of firing it at the fallen Koopa, he found himself jumping backwards to dodge the flames currently billowing from the Koopa's mouth like some demented flamethrower.

Perhaps Mewtwo wasn't the only one to worry about after all…

Toad, meanwhile, was assessing his options. So far, all he had come up with was running around and praying to high heaven that the other combatants eliminated themselves. Failing that, he could …oh, who was he kidding? Why did he even come here?! The only thing he could do was play sports, assorted minigames, and the occasional Kart Race. He was a Toadstool, not a fighter! There was no way he was going to be someone's meatshield! He'd rather die in a blaze of glory!

Unfortunately for Toad, Mewtwo had been listening to his thoughts. With a flick of his hand, the Pokémon sent the small humanoid flying at Bowser's mouth, head first. At the very least, he had a sense of humor, even if everyone else was too small-minded to comprehend it. "Oh, Mewtwo" they would say, "That's far too horrific to be comedy! There's nothing funny about turning a man inside out and then sending his corpse to his wife!" Well, he'd show them.

He'd show them _all_.

Just as Ryu was about to be burned by Bowser's bad breath (how's that for alliteration?), the sudden appearance of a high-speed Toad caused Bowser to duck, involuntarily shutting off his flame. Enraged, the Koopa turned around just as Toad regained his footing, and did the unthinkable…he began to argue with the poor little guy, accusing him of trying to backstab him.

Ryu, searching for the source of Toad's propulsion, saw Mewtwo's snide smile as the psychic flung a blast of psychic energy towards the warrior. Ryu was able to roll out of the way just in time…to get hit by a second, larger ball of energy that flung him into the arena wall. The warrior found that after that one attack, it was becoming difficult to move, almost as if-

"As if something was holding you down, Ryu?" Mewtwo sneered, appearing before his soon-to-be victim, "That would be me, slowly crushing your body. Right now, all I'm doing is only applying a little force. If you continue to resist, I will increase that force until it starts to strain your body. Keep trying after that, and I will start breaking bones. Now," The psychic raised his hand, "Surrendthat trick won't work on me, Bowser." Mewtwo suddenly turned and pushed his hand towards the flying Toad, causing the creature to stop in midair before flinging it into the other side of the arena. Unlike Ryu, Toad had the stamina of a wet paper towel and fell into unconsciousness as he slid towards the ground.

"Ohh, Toad is out. That poor little cute thing, I rather liked him. He was so upbeat, tee hee!" Jeane said, still sticking to her normal, upbeat tone as Toad was teleported from the arena.

Now it was Bowser who was running out of options; his Toad missile plan had miserably failed, and now he didn't have any small pipsqueaks to use as ammunition. But as long as he waited for Mewtwo to knock out Ryu, he could take second…or, better yet, knock out Mewtwo in a surprise attack as he was finishing off Ry-

"Again, that won't work, Bowser." Mewtwo calmly said, flicking his wrist towards the Koopa King. Bowser soon found himself to be flying into the same indentation that Toad had created moments ago. Fortunately for him, he was made of tougher stuff than that weakling, and was still able to fight, even if it felt like someone had just hit him in the head with a mallet.

Unknown to either Mewtwo or Bowser, Ryu's mind was in a state of turmoil; the psychic assault he had suffered, combined with the growing sense of desperation, had awakened something inside of him that was clawing to get out. He knew that if he released it, victory would easily be his…but at what cost? And what if he could do nothing to stop it?

Mewtwo had always prided himself on his psychic powers; he was, after all, one of, if not the most powerful Pokémon in existence. His psychic power was so great that he was able to predict an enemy's movements before they made them, allowing him to formulate counter attacks almost instantly. That's why the following events caught him completely off-guard.

As Mewtwo began to turn back towards Ryu, intent on crushing the warrior's spirit, he was caught off-guard by a brutal punch to his midsection, followed by a devastating Roundhose kick to his side that sent him falling to the ground. Looking at the source of the attack, Mewtwo was shocked to see Ryu forcing himself up, a strange energy forming around his hands. It was almost like the warrior's Hadoken, but that couldn't be right; this energy was almost completely different, and, more disturbingly, Mewtwo found that he could no longer read Ryu's mind at all. It was almost as if the warrior was operating on pure instinct, but even then, there should have been some sort of residual thought. Growling, Mewtwo teleported towards the other side of the arena, trying to distance himself from the changed Ryu.

Bowser was quite confused at this point; before, it seemed like that guy in white was getting beaten to a pulp by that cat-thing and its mind powers, and now the tables had turned. Deciding to play it cautious, Bowser started to inch away towards the arena wall as well…before coming up with a brilliant plan.

If Mewtwo was to defeat Ryu now, he would need total concentration so that he could form a Pyswave, which would hopefully engulf his two opponents in vast amounts of psychic energy an-"BOWSER I WILL KILL YOU FOR THINKING THAT ABOUT MY MOTHER!" Enraged, the psychic Pokémon flew at the Koopa King, preparing a Psychic attack to crush the Koopa flat…only to be surprised when Ryu appeared in front of him. Before Mewtwo could exclaim "What?!", Ryu unleashed a Dragon Punch right into Mewtwo's chest, sending the Pokémon flying like a rag doll. When Mewtwo landed, he didn't get up again and was soon teleported to the Infrimary.

And then there were two.  
Brilliant. Plan.

"I surrender!" Bowser shouted, hiding in his shell.

Brillia-wate, what?

"It looks like Ryu's the winner! I wonder if he'd let me get in on his victory celebrations, tee hee!" Jeane said, as the arena erupted with applause, except for two of the competitors in the box. For Akuma and Ganondorf, this had been a complete let-down.

**Aftermath**

"Bowser, why you-a do the forfeit? That's-a not like you at all-a!" Mario exclaimed, scratching his head.

The Koopa King chuckled to himself, content in his perceived superiority over his plumbing nemesis, "Well, my dear, simple-minded Mario, it's simple. By letting Ryu win the match, I assure that I will also move up to the next round, and then I'll be familiar with his strategies. And by then, flashy powers or no flashy powers, it'll be the King of the Koopas who wins!"

"If-a that's-a the case, why-a you not just-a beat him in the ring today?"

"STRATEGY!" Bowser screamed, as he punted the plumber away from him.

Elsewhere, Ryu was again attempting meditation to calm himself down after his match. And again, just as before, someone was intruding. Opening his eyes, he was unsurprised to find Akuma glaring at him. Before he could speak, Ryu calmly spoke, "You're wondering how I was able to do that without using the Satsui no Hadou, weren't you?"

Akuma merely continued to glare at Ryu.

"After the third tournament, I trained with the hermit Oro. However, I wasn't able to finish training before this tournament happened, so my technique isn't quite perfect…but it was enough to completely clear my mind."

Akuma snorted. After a moment, he replied, "That may have helped you this time, boy, but things will only get tougher from here on out. Sooner or later, you will give in to the Satsui no Hadou, and when you do…I'll be waiting."

As Akuma turned to leave, Ryu spoke, "Perhaps you should be careful as well, Akuma. Power isn't the only deciding factor here, as that turtle man proved. He was able to survive the round by keeping attention off of him and then distracting one of us at a crucial moment. And before you reply that he's a weakling, remember that there are people here who outstrip him in power. What is to stop one of them from employing a similar technique?"

Akuma growled; he hated to admit it, but the boy had a point…so he wouldn't admit it, certainly not to his face. "We shall see, boy. We shall see."

By Twilight the Fox


	68. When Angels Deserve to Die

**When Angels Deserve to Die**

Sephiroth. When the name appeared on the bracket, Cloud had a bad feeling in his stomach. Something bad was going to happen during the next match. But could he prevent it? He had to try. That's why he sought out whom he considered the most powerful of the three competitors in the match- Meta Knight. Few people actually had much faith in Meta Knight's skills, but Cloud did not misjudge him so. He felt that it was appropriate to assign Kirby's rival with this important task. It was imperative that Sephiroth was taken out in the first round.

"I want you to kill Sephiroth." Cloud said.

"Why?" Meta Knight asked.

"Because." Cloud said. "He won't hesitate to kill you, or anyone else in this contest for that matter."

Cloud was right about that. Sephiroth wouldn't hesitate to kill anybody in the tournament if it suited his purpose. Cloud wanted to make sure that didn't happen. The only way to do that was to take Sephiroth out of the picture. Sephiroth had to be killed. Cloud had always felt that it was his job to do it. But he couldn't under the circumstances. That'd play right into Sephiroth's hands. Harming a contestant outside of the tournament was forbidden. It wasn't clear what the penalty was for breaking the rule, but Cloud was sure it wasn't simply a slap on the wrist.

"I fight with honor Cloud." Meta Knight said. "I will not kill someone in the tournament unless it is necessary."

"I understand." Cloud explained. "But killing Sephiroth is necessary."

Meta Knight thought about what Cloud said. "I will take that into consideration"

"All right. That's all I ask."

Cloud was satisfied with that. He couldn't ask Peach to do it. And CATS was obviously out of the question. Nobody understood the android, and nobody was sure that the android understood anybody. Meta Knight was his only option this round. Cloud left Meta Knight to prepare for his match. And soon after, Meta Knight left to go train. But in the shadows waiting, was Sephiroth. He had been listening in the entire time. And he was smiling.

"So . . . my puppet wishes to play?" he said. "Then play, we shall. Right Mother?"

**The Match**

"Um, Ladies and Gentlemen?" Nurse Sophia announced in a soft voice. "CATS versus Meta Knight versus Peach versus Sephiroth, will now begin."

Sophia hadn't done such a great job of announcing. But she got the job done. The fight was what everyone was there to see anyway. But nobody could've expected what was going to happen, to happen.

Sephiroth unsheathed his sword, looking as if he were going to slaughter all three of the other contestants at once. But rather than killing them all in a single blow as he no doubt could have, he leaped high into the air, to the point that nobody could see him anymore. Was he hiding? No. Not Sephiroth. Hiding wasn't something that he would consider doing. But what was he doing?

CATS didn't seem to care though. Even the android realized that if he took out the other two he would advance. It was a plan so simple, that even Lloyd Irving could've come up with it.

"All your second places are belong to us!" CATS said as he turned toward Meta Knight and Peach.

The two looked confused, as most people did when CATS spoke. He never made very much sense.

"Make your time! You have no chance to survive!" It seemed to be his catchphrase.

Meta Knight and Peach were too stunned to really say anything. And what happened next, didn't help matters any at all. Because what happened next surprised everyone that was watching. CATS used a remote control to call out a large purple machine. Was this even legal? Did it even matter? If there were rules against it, there were doubts that CATS understood them. But nobody was doing anything about it anyway.

"Ha ha ha." CATS laughed.

He pushed the big red button on the remote, and it started firing at Peach and Meta Knight. Had CATS designed this himself? If so, it was very impressive. Though he had to have had help. But who in Capcom house would've been willing to help him? Had the question been asked to the spectators, they would've all stared at HK-47, and they would've been right to. Anything to kill more meatbags.

Meta Knight skillfully dodged all of the bullets that were fired at him, while Peach deflected the bullets with her parasol. The purple machine continued firing as CATS laughed at the two contestants. Was someone in Microsoft House actually going to win a match? Nobody thought it possible. And if they had, CATS wasn't the first to come to mind.

"Shield?!" CATS screamed. "I break your shield!"

This time he pushed the small black button. But rather than the machine shooting faster and stronger, ten dancing raisins popped out of it. HK-47 facepalmed himself. Never let an idiot do a genius's job.

"Observe at that those dance." CATS said, laughing.

Dancing Raisins? If the plan was to confuse his competitors further, then the plan succeeded. Almost too well in fact. But it didn't break their shields as CATS had apparently intended it to do so. Agent J was enjoying himself however.

"Then the time when it strikes!" CATS announced. This time he pushed a small orange button.

This time small zigs came out of nowhere. They didn't fire bullets either though. They just said "Pew Pew." They didn't make the noise, they actually said "pew, pew."

"Another nail of the casket of threes of playstation." CATS said as he pushed a coffin-shaped button on the remote.

The machine then made an announcement. "Destruct of oneself of will of my 10 seconds."

Ten seconds later and the machine self-destructed. But rather than encompassing an entire area with its blast, it was fairly self contained. The machine hadn't helped CATS out too much. With no other way of fighting, Peach and Meta Knight decided they'd deal with CATS now. But where was Sephiroth at?

CATS was standing in the center of the arena. Meta Knight and Peach were backed off from him. They slowly approached him. But before they could get very close, they saw something in the sky. Sephiroth was coming back. He was falling from the sky, as if he were an angel. His blade was held out, as it had been once before. There wasn't even time for Cloud to react. As he reached the ground, his sword protruded through CATS back, and through his stomach. There was a look of horror on the androids' face as it had happened. CATS was struggling to speak.

"Make your base . . . there is no survive . . . All your chances are belong to . . . " CATS was barely able to get his next words out. They sounded almost entirely robotic. "Please change to disc 2."

With that, CATS fell to the ground. The crowd looked toward Sephiroth, as he in turn looked up to Cloud and Aeris. He smiled at them. It had sent a clear message to them. CATS lie on the ground, completely lifeless now. There was little use in transporting him to the hospital now, there wasn't much even Dr. Stiles could do. Sophia grabbed the microphone, and tried to say the right words. It wasn't easy for her. Though she barely knew CATS, she didn't like when anyone had to die.

"CATS . . . " she said. "Is dead."

It was as simple as that. A couple of those in Microsoft house were quite upset, especially the Midgar Zolom. CATS had been one of them.

Sephiroth pulled his blade out of CATS. He turned to Peach, and smiled at her, indicating that she was next. The blood was still dripping from his sword. Anyone could see the murderous intent that was in his eyes. Mario and Luigi resisted the urge to jump into the arena to prevent Sephiroth from doing this. But they knew that they couldn't. There wasn't anything they could do at this point. No matter how much they wanted to protect Peach. Even Bowser wanted to protect her right now. Sephiroth pulled his blade back. He thrust it in Peach's direction. But something was stopping his blade from protruding through her torso. It was his other opponent's blade.

"So you want to be first then?" Sephiroth asked Meta Knight. "Have it your way."

"You have no honor, Sephiroth."

"I have no need for such a thing."

Sephiroth jumped back, preparing for Meta Knight's blade to meet his. If the small creature wanted to die first, then so be it! Meta Knight flew into the air, and struck Sephiroth's blade with his own. Meta Knight was striking at Sephiroth with all of his might. But Sephiroth was holding him off without any difficulty. The Masamune, a weapon that normally thirsted for blood was being used as a defensive piece of equipment. It wasn't in Sephiroth's nature to be like that. What was he up to? The two were at what seemed like a standstill, though Sephiroth could've thrown Meta Knight back a few feet with ease if he had wanted to. Meta Knight continued striking at Sephiroth, hoping to get a hit in. Peach realized she couldn't just stand there while Meta Knight was being held off by Sephiroth. She ran toward the one winged angel, and pulled a golf club out and whacked him with it. She hadn't even broken Sephiroth's stance. Meta Knight soon realized why Sephiroth was playing defensively. He was draining all of Meta Knight's energy that he could. And Peach soon realized it as well. That would allow him to kill both of them unhindered. Then, not even the holders of the tournament could stop him. Peach jumped back when she realized it, and knew that she had to do something.

Peach reached into the ground, and pulled a turnip from the earth. She tossed it at Sephiroth's head. But not even that was able to break his concentration. Something had to be done, or he'd kill them both. Peach ran up to him again, and began whacking him with everything in her arsenal. First a golf club, then a frying pan, then a golf club again. Yet again he resisted each blow, nothing destroying his focus. Peach grabbed the golf club once again, this time aiming for Sephiorth's torso with all of her might. She may have been a fragile princess, but she swung the golf club with enough force to shatter a few bones. Sephiroth quickly threw Meta Knight at the back wall, and reached back in time to grab the club. He forced it out of her hands, and broke it in half with a single snap. He tossed it to the ground.

"Enough games, Princess." he said. "Looks like you'll be first after all."

Meta Knight felt helpless. He didn't feel like he could stop Sephiroth in his current state. He was too badly injured. He could only watch as Sephiroth drew back his blade, and Peach quivered with fear. Mario and Luigi in the stands felt so helpless. Sephiroth was about to kill their Princess. They'd rather have had Bowser kidnap her again. At least then she'd be alive. But Bowser too was very worried about what Sephiroth was going to do. But he didn't want to show it. Not since he was in Sony House. He was the big bad King of the Koopas. He couldn't feel sorry for a helpless princess and keep his reputation. Sephiroth's smile widened as he drew his blade toward Peach. Killing her would give him almost as much gratification as that time in the city of the ancients. Mother would be proud.

"I'm sorry . . . Princess." Meta Knight said.

Meta Knight then did, the one thing he never expected to do. He jumped into the air, as high as he possibly could, and became one with his blade. He focused on it harder than he had focused on anything in his entire life. Never had he been so depended on as he had been in this moment. A beam of energy started pouring out of the blade, as it headed toward Sephiroth and Peach. But it didn't hit Sephiroth, it hit Peach. Was that his intention? Or did he miss? It was soon made very clear that Peach was his target. The Princess fell to the ground. But she was till alive. Before Sephiroth could strike her with his blade, she was declared out of the competition by Nurse Esteed. She was promptly teleported back to the infirmary. Mario and Luigi both let out a sigh of relief. Disaster had been averted.

"How admirable." Sephiroth said. "But don't think that it will save your life."

Sephiroth turned around, and faced Meta Knight. He charged at him as fast as he possibly could. Meta Knight got up, and drew his blade. The two swords clashed. But before it could go any further, Sophia Esteed announced that the match was over.

"Sephiroth places first, and Meta Knight places second!" She said.

The match was over. Meta Knight did not fulfill his mission. But there would be next time. Of course that also meant next time Sephiroth would have a chance to kill him again as well.

**Aftermath**

Kirby congratulated Meta Knight on advancing to round two. But Meta Knight didn't feel like this was a victory. It felt more like a failure. He didn't take out Sephiroth. He had to be ready for round two.

"I still have training to do. I suggest you train as well."

Kirby yawned, he didn't really want to train. He understood it was important, but at the same time he just wanted to go take a nap. And given the choice between training, and a nap, Kirby would always choose the nap.

Princess Peach was being treated in the infirmary. Meta Knight's Sword Beam did a good number on her. But Dr. Stiles and his staff were confident that she would be okay in the end. Outside of the infirmary was Bowser, who was nervously wandering around. He couldn't just enter her room and show compassion for her could he? No, he was King of the Koopas. He was lightning in a bottle, he was an earthquake in a can. He couldn't ruin his reputation. So instead, he did what he'd normally do. He walked in and started yelling.  
"Look at the poor princess! Gwahaha, can't even take a simple cut!"

Peach turned to him. "Hmph. You're one to talk. You were cowering in your shell at the end of YOUR match Bowser."

That stung.

"Aww, you're going to make me cry." Bowser said sarcastically. "Anyway, I just came to say. I'm glad you didn't get too hurt. I mean killed. Yeah, that."

Peach giggled. Bowser had always had his soft side. Though he never liked showing it very much.

"NOT BECAUSE I'M A GOOD GUY THOUGH!" He screamed. "I'm as bad as they come. But if Long haired- pretty boy killed you, I couldn't kidnap you anymore GWAHAHAHA. Oh and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone I said so. I've got a reputation to protect."

By Cloud and Squall


	69. Training

**Training**

Big Boss got down on one knee, hefting his sniper rifle. He slowly lifted it to reach his eye, adjusting the zoom for maximum accuracy. Of course, he could have done this all much faster if he needed to, but today he wasn't focusing on being fast. A wooden dummy with a smiley face on it stood at attention, ready to be blasted to smithereens. Yoshimitsu had set up a firing range in the basement of his Dojo, and Big Boss intended to take advantage of it.

The scope of the rifle perfectly aligned with the dummy's head. Big Boss lamented that the dummies didn't move; shooting still targets was far too easy. He pulled the trigger, watching with mild satisfaction as a bullet punched through the smiley face's mouth, leaving behind an O of surprise.

Turning to the next dummy, he ignored the head, this time aiming for the hands. While a headshot was more practical for ending things quickly, for accuracy training the hand was the smallest individual target that would benefit hitting in a combat situation. Well, the fingers were, but the dummies here weren't that sophisticated. He blew off the dummy's right hand, and then moved to its left hand, then right foot, left foot, firing in rapid succession. Big Boss checked his results and grimaced when he saw that the shot aimed at the left hand had merely grazed it instead of hitting the center. He needed to get better with rapid-fire shots if he ever hoped to properly use a sniper rifle in this kind of arena.

As he reloaded his sniper rifle, he heard metallic footsteps coming from behind him. Master Chief stopped a few feet next to Big Boss, pulling out his own sniper rifle and aiming it at a dummy. Bam, bam, bam, bam. The hands and feet were blown away, each one hit in the dead center with pinpoint accuracy.

Big Boss raised an eyebrow. Was this a challenge? He aimed his sniper rifle and repeated his exercise, and this time he didn't miss, matching Master Chief point for point.

Of course, it only escalated from there. Master Chief pulled out his pistol, carefully lining up the sights with another dummy. The shots were much slower, but each bullet found their mark. Big Boss looked at his pistol uncertainly; he didn't know if he could copy that maneuver. Shrugging, he pointed the pistol at a dummy, pulling the trigger. He was just as slow as Master Chief, but he managed to hit the hands and feet of the dummy. Big Boss nodded, satisfied that his training had kept his skills at their peak.

Suddenly, Raiden entered the scene, bringing with him his own pistol. He repeated the same odd sequence of shots Master Chief and Big Boss did, not missing a beat. Big Boss was surprised; the kid seemed kind of green at times. Maybe he hadn't been giving Raiden enough credit.

Before anyone could decide what the next obstacle would be, Tommy Vercetti walked up to them all. Everyone turned to look at him, seeing if he would be able to pull off the same kind of skill with weapons that they had.

Tommy looked at each of them, saw their expectant faces, and rolled his eyes. He pulled out a rocket launcher and shot it at a dummy, causing a decent-sized explosion that sent wood chipping flying everyone. Raiden and Big Boss averted their eyes, not wanting to get splinters in them. Tommy just laughed. " that 'pinpoint accuracy' ."

---

Vyse had both of his swords locked in Ike's, barely holding back the large blade. Vyse was astounded at how strong Ike was; he appeared to be wielding a two-handed sword in one hand, without any drawbacks. It made you wonder why he didn't just use both hands anyway.

Vyse jumped back out of Ike's range, drawing back. His swordplay was based on utilizing two swords for both offense and defense, but that wouldn't help if all he could do was defend. He wouldn't have time to cast magic. He decided to just hand back for a while and dodge Ike's attacks as best as he could until he had built up enough energy for a Special Move.

Ike raised his sword, held it there for a second, and then brought it down in Vyse's direction. A quick wave of energy shot out of it, catching Vyse off guard and knocking him down. Ike had ranged attacks too? Vyse barely had enough time to get up before Ike reached him, swinging his blade like a berserker without the foaming mouth and incoherent screams. Vyse deflected the blade many times, but Ike kept up his offensive, and Vyse felt himself tiring. He couldn't even put enough distance between himself and Ike to use his own ranged sword attack, which he regretted not using when he had the chance.

However, he had enough energy to perform one of his special moves. Cutlass Fury, Rain of Sword, Pirate's Wrath, Skull Shield…pretty much any of them would turn the tide of the battle. All he needed was an opening.

As Vyse maneuvered around the dojo arena, something caught his eye. A person dressed in blue with silver-gray hair was standing in the entrance to the room, a thin smirk on his face. Seeing that Vyse had finally noticed, his smirk widened a little bit. "Come on!" He said. "Where's your motivation? You going to lose this badly?" Vyse and Ike stopped fighting and looked at the man.

The smirk disappeared. "So that's how it is? All right." Without warning, he pulled out a katana, went into a fighting stance, and disappeared.

Ike and Vyse frantically looked around the room, but he was gone. For about two seconds. Vyse heard a faint rumble behind him and felt the air shimmer a bit right before he was hit in the back of the head with the flat side of a sword. He fell forward, planting his face right into the wooden floor. He heard another thump right after; that was probably Ike doing the same thing. He started to rise, only to be hit again, this time more violently.

Vyse's head was ringing, and he his eyes slightly out of focus. Both of his cutlasses were gone; he had dropped them. As his eyesight slowly came back into focus, he saw that the man in blue was in the doorway again, spinning his katana, not a scratch on him. He slowly sheathed his katana, pausing for a moment before clicking it into place. "You're too weak. Neither of you will last past the first round." he said. With that friendly and inspiring parting comment, he slowly walked out of the dojo, leaving Vyse and Ike lying on the floor.

---

Magus sat in meditative state, his eyes closed, his senses cut off from the rest of the world. In a combat situation he would obviously not be allowed to sit around at his leisure, but his purposes required that he do this for now.

He felt around, not with his body, but with his minds. Magus immersed his conscious thoughts in the magic that permeated every part of every world. For while the cost for casting a spell came from the body, the construct and makeup of every spell came from the elements that existed in all life: fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, dark, light, spirit…and more that remained undiscovered.

Which is what he intended to do; discover more. Magus was the best black mage in existence, and possibly the greatest black mage there ever would be. He had reached his own limit long ago, and he didn't seem to be able to go beyond it. However, this was a new place with new possibilities. It seemed to exist outside of normal time and space, its own dimension apart from other dimensions. If there were any place where he might find new spells, aside from traveling back to the beginning of the universe and learning from the most basic components from which all elements were formed, this was it.

Magus had already seen some of the way the other competitors cast spells. They were similar, yet different. Perhaps the biggest shock was learning that the subtleties and complexities of the arcane arts could be contained into a small little ball called materia that pretty much anyone could use. He would take efforts to make sure none of that made it back to his dimension; it would rob him of his greatest asset: being one of the only magic users in the world.

He kept his focus steady; his mind continued to search, sifting through what he already knew, looking for that new prize…he could almost feel something…

---

Wander climbed up onto his usual spot: the roof of a random building. He was not happy to find someone else there. A strange pale-skinned man was sitting on the edge of the roof, facing the forest, sky, and winds for whatever reason. He would just get cold that way. Anyway, what was he doing here? All day people would try to talk to him, not quite getting that he couldn't understand a word they said, and when he finally got some time to himself, someone else was there?

He could always go to another roof, but if he let one person start getting on the roofs then everyone would want to. Wander walked up to the man and looked at him closely; his eyes were closed, his breathing was shallow. Was he sleeping? Oh well. Wander shoved him over the side of the roof, waking up the man and sending him tumbling over the side.

"Ffo yats dan! Peels ot ecapl retteb a dnif!" he called after the man. Wander sat down, ignoring the cry of frustration he heard from the man, as if he had almost achieved something only to have it torn away. The roof was his again.

By KamikazePotato


	70. Sorry for the delay

**Sorry for the delay**

Everybody had been called to the meeting hall, a place they hadn't all been since they were sorted into houses. Few knew why they were called into the meeting hall. Some had speculated that it had to do with Zelos's death. Others speculated that it had to do with Sephiroth's murder of CATS. And others still speculated that the tournament was being cancelled altogether. Seeing as the match that was scheduled for today, wasn't happening, it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. After all, what could the hold up have been? Banjo, Wario, Fox, and Captain Falcon had been scheduled to fight today. But it hadn't started yet. In fact nobody had been notified of what time it was going to start. Everything was so odd.

"We've called you here today, to announce that no match will be held today." Lucretia announced.

The audience stirred. Was the tournament actually being cancelled? It couldn't be..

"I know there has been speculation as to why this meeting was called. I want to assure you that this has nothing to do with Zelos's death. That's being handled. I also want to assure you that it doesn't have to do with the murder of CATS. Things will be set right in his universe with time. I can also assure you that the tournament hasn't been cancelled."

This was a relief for many of the contestants. Though, those who had lost were disappointed. Most of them were just waiting to go home. But that wasn't the case.

"The show must go on!" Lucretia said. "But no match will be held today. I cannot give you the details on this, so do not ask for them."

The announcement confused the majority of the contestants. There wasn't going to be a match today? Would it be held tomorrow? If not, when? Lucretia would soon answer the many questions they did have. At least the ones that she was willing to answer.

"Today's match will be held at a later date." Lucretia explained. "There is preparation to be done for this match, unlike any other. Tomorrow, matches will proceed according to schedule. That is all."

The audience stirred again. Why was this happening? Most of them looked to the contestants whose match was supposed to be today. Never before had a match been postponed. Not even when Zelos mysteriously was killed. The four contestants looked like they knew exactly why it was postponed. But they weren't talking.

Lucretia spoke one last time, before leaving. "Again, I want to thank you all. And, sorry for the delay."


End file.
